AP: "Bush Keeps Revising War Justification"

[Sparkly]

(They just noticed?)

Bush keeps revising war justification

By TOM RAUM 1 hour, 42 minutes ago

WASHINGTON -President Bush keeps revising his explanation for why the U.S. is in Iraq, moving from narrow military objectives at first to history-of-civilization stakes now.

Initially, the rationale was specific: to stop Saddam Hussein from using what Bush claimed were the Iraqi leader's weapons of mass destruction or from selling them to al-Qaida or other terrorist groups.

But 3 1/2 years later, with no weapons found, still no end in sight and the war a liability for nearly all Republicans on the ballot Nov. 7, the justification has become far broader and now includes the expansive "struggle between good and evil."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061014/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_iraq

This reminds me of PJ Crowley's "Why We Went In"...

* Version 1.0 - Saddam Hussein is an imminent threat
* Version 1.01 - Saddam Hussein is a gathering threat
* Version 1.02 - Saddam Hussein poses a real and dangerous threat
* Version 1.1 - The smoking gun will be a mushroom cloud
* Version 1.2 - We can't afford to wait
* Version 1.3 - We never said imminent
* Version 1.3.1 - OK, maybe we did say it once or twice
* Version 1.4 - We should have been more precise

It goes on through Version 10....
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2004/03/b38989.html

[leftchick]

1. on the upside....

<snip>

The more ominous and determined his words, the more skeptical the American public appears, polls show, both on the war itself and over whether it is part of the larger fight against terrorism, as the administration insists.

Bush's approval rating, reflected by AP-Ipsos polls, has slid from the mid 60s at the outset of the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003 to the high 30s now. There were light jumps upward after the December 2003 capture of Saddam, Bush's re-election in November 2004 and each of three series of aggressive speeches over the past year. Those gains tended to vanish quickly.

With the war intruding on the fall elections, both parties have stepped up their rhetoric.

[Buns_of_Fire]

2. The "struggle between good and evil"...

Sounds positively biblical, doesn't it? And it'll have just as much success as the War(s) Against Nouns, Adverbs, Adjectives, States of Being, Military Tactics, Excessive Nose Hair, and Naughty Bodily Functions.

[unblock]

3. "bush keeps lying"

not a single "justification" has been the truth.

the liar who claimed he didn't pay attention to polls and who said that the other guy would "say or do anything" keeps shifting from one lie to another in the constant search for higher poll numbers.

[kurth]

4. The Islamofascists have gone extinct:

"The "fascism" phrase abruptly disappeared from Bush's speeches"

[Sparkly]

5. I noticed that, too!

I think it may have been because it was too difficult for Chimpy to pronounce. ("Islamofasciststsstsss...")

[rodeodance]

6. ah, the bushi ladies get credit for getting the Islamic fascism out of spe

eches.




For a while last summer, Bush depicted the war as one against "Islamic fascism," borrowing a phrase from conservative commentators. The strategy backfired, further fanning anti-American sentiment across the Muslim world.

The "fascism" phrase abruptly disappeared from Bush's speeches, reportedly after he was talked out of it by Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and Karen Hughes, a longtime Bush confidant now with the State Department.

Hughes said she would not disclose private conversations with the president. But, she told the AP, she did not use the "fascism" phrase herself. "I use `violent extremist,'" she said.

[rodeodance]

7. "Setting the Record Straight" - Bush Administration responds

posted on DU but seems to fit here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2395299

Sat Oct-14-06 04:57 PM
Original message
"Setting the Record Straight" - Bush Administration responds

I know you're just beside yourself with anticipation.

The Whitehouse will post their spin to the latest headlines under the heading Setting the Record Straight

The Associated Press Claims "President Bush Keeps Revising His Explanation For Why The U.S. Is In Iraq, Moving From Narrow Military Objectives At First To History-Of-Civilization Stakes Now."

Bush Regime spin is:

* President Bush Has Consistently Pointed To Liberating Iraqis From A Brutal Ruler, Including Before The War.

* President Bush Has Consistently Emphasized The Importance Of Spreading Democracy In The Middle East, Including Before The War.




So we see the Bush Regime will downplay their constantly repeated lies about WMD and the threat Saddam Hussein was to America.




The Associated Press Alleges The President Calls Iraq The "Central Front" In The War On Terror For Political Purposes.

Bush Regime spin is:

* The Terrorists Consider Iraq "The Central Battlefield" In The War On Terror.

* As Early As February 1998, Osama Bin Laden Made It Clear That He Not Only Intended To Wage War On The United States, But He Wanted To Use Iraq As A Central Battleground.



So you see, it's not that Bush thinks this - it's that the terrorists think this...and the man they claim no one knew about or had heard of before 2001, was the one who made Iraq the "central front" in the war on terror.

[rodeodance]

8. Most Emailed story is Bush keeps revising war justification.

Sat Oct-14-06 04:55 PM
Original message
Most Emailed story is Bush keeps revising war justification. Lets do

Edited on Sat Oct-14-06 05:04 PM by rodeodance
so more emailing, viewing, etc.

edited for link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061014/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush... ;_ylt=AvHUpGFOKtuxsAA6vivS2P2s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3ODdxdHBhBHNlYwM5NjQ-



* Most Emailed
* Most Viewed
* Most Recommended
* My Sources

Most Emailed

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"Glory Days"

[rodeodance]

9. 3.5 stars

RECOMMEND THIS STORY

Your Recommendation:

Average (1149 votes)
3.5 stars

[Auggie]

10. The bad news, I think, is that some people are still buying this b.s, but

the good news is that more people are not.

[Sparkly]

11. Amazing that anybody is, isn't it? nt

[Doctor_J]

12. Not really

Limbeciles will believe anything that Rusty and insHannity tell them. They are brainwashed. They believe that trees cause pollution, that Bill Clinton killed Vince Foster and Ron Brown, that sea level won't rise when the polar ice caps melt, that "someone is trying to take away Christmas", that the Earth is 4,000 years old, and that Smirk is really smart. Here's a likely scenario:

Thursday: Rove decides that demonizing "round-Earthers" will garner a few votes in November
Friday: Rush, Sean, Bill, Ann, Laura, Laura, Matthews, Gallagher, Ollie, G. Gordon, everyone on Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN begin the chorus of "these pointy-headed left-wing radicals are brainwashing our kids into believing the Earth is round. Next they'll be telling you that Hillary should be president. How did our schools get so infested with round-Earthers?"
Monday: They're still at it folks. Did you notice how the media is all against us on this flat-Earth issue?"
Tuesday: Fox News Poll: 48% of Americans believe the Earth is flat
Wednesday: NYT proves it is part o fthe Liberal Conspiracy by running the headline "Opinions differ on shape of Earth"

[katinmn]

13. How could they leave out: "To bring freedom and democracy to Iraqis?"

That one was the top justification for the whole second year of the war!

[Lasher]

14. Blazing Trousers

From the article:

The administration recently has been "doing a much better job" in explaining the stakes, Card said in an interview. "We never said it was going to be easy. The president always told us it would be long and tough."

Really? But I thought you said...

2/13/02 Former assistant to Rumsfield, Ken Aldeman: "I believe demolishing Hussein's military power and liberating Iraq would be a cakewalk."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A1996-2002Feb12?language=printer

11/14/02 Rumsfeld: "Five days or five weeks or five months, but it certainly isn’t going to last any longer than that. It won’t be a World War III."

2/7/03 Rumsfeld: "It could last, you know, six days, six weeks. I doubt six months."

3/16/03 Cheney: "My belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators."

3/27/03 Paul Wolfowitz: "We’re dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon."
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/15/bush.oil/

These "cakewalk" claims were repeated by administration officials until the war in Iraq had started. Once they had sold us that bottle of snake oil they switched to the "long hard slog" story, in order to manage our expectations.

[beltanefauve]

20. It wasn't supposed to

cause a lot of deaths, either. Remember all the talk in the beginning of, "smart bombs"?

[Lasher]

21. This was part of the deliberate pimping of the Iraq war

I feel comfortable in saying deliberate, in part because administration officials all changed their stories at once. Before 9/11 Colin and Condi both said Saddam was not a threat. After 9/11 they and others said often and loudly that he was. We got this 'cakewalk' thing before the invasion and in unison they suddenly changed to their 'hard slog' story as soon as we had invaded.

I can't wait for the Congressional hearings next year.

[liberal N proud]

15. Lies lead to bigger lies and eventually they implode upon the liar

[Bucky]

16. K + R = bookmark

ty, Sparks

[madrchsod]

17. no one is listening anymore

he is finished as a president

[George II]

18. "struggle between good and evil."

Might it better be characterized as "struggle between evil and more evil"?

[francium22]

19. bush sucks