Michael Moore powers, activate!

It's funny, in a week that has seen that President Bush both is not a liar and that he did not pressure the CIA to come up a preordained conclusion on Iraq WMD programs, my local paper is still trying to push the whole "Bush lied" theory. You would think they are invested in it or something. Today, the AJC had an "Our Opinion" column that had this to say:

So it was all the CIA's fault.

The official Washington line is that the Bush administration and Congress — and, in the end, the American people — were misled into an unnecessary, destructive and hugely expensive war against Iraq because of faulty intelligence supplied by the CIA.

No. Sorry. Like so many other official stories about Iraq, that one will not and cannot stand the test of time.

In response, here the Letter to the Editor I wrote back:

Clearly the editorial board of the AJC taken the lesson of Michael Moore to heart – don’t let the facts get in the way of a good conspiracy theory. The facts are that the Saddam Hussein was given every opportunity to live up to his 1991 cease-fire obligations and to United Nations resolutions. The CIA, and indeed Intelligence agencies throughout the world, including those of our erstwhile allies France and Russia, also did not believe Hussein had fulfilled those obligations. President Bush went the extra mile in going to the United Nations to start the process to give Hussein a final opportunity to come clean. The resulting resolution spelled out in exact detail what Hussein had to do to prove he was not a danger. Instead of taking advantage of that opportunity, Hussein played his same old obstructionist game.

Maybe the AJC’s editorial board wants to live in a world where the word of Saddam Hussein, a murderer, a killer of children, and a genocidal manic is considered as good as gold? I, for one, do not. Instead, I praise President Bush and the others who joined him for having the strength of character to finally call the regime of Saddam Hussein to account for their deceit and for their crimes in killing hundreds of thousands through war and genocide. I urge the editorial board of the AJC to put aside it’s wacko conspiracy theories and recognize that President Bush took the only responsible path.

Anybody interested in a bet on whether it gets published?

Giving Credit

In a rare display of appreciation for the AJC, I will give credit to Ron Martz, who wrote a feature on www.warriorrelief.org, who helps soldiers help the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. I donated some money to Warrior Relief and I invite you to do the same.

Comments

[Bloggerhead]

Mr. Pig:

The congressional report of the failures of our intelligence agencies implicitly refrains from addressing the issue of stove-piped intelligence. That was part of the deal to get the report out in a timely manner and with a modicum of unanimity on a important issue, for our intelligence agencies do need--in fact, ever need--upgrading.

I think you can perceive, by two pieces of clear evidence, that there is a second focus of Congress's inquiry: (1) the commission has referred to a second report to be released after the election (great timing for the administration, huh?); and (2) Rockefeller's none-too-subtle remarks that Feith and friends committed crimes in their stove-piping-program-related-activities.

Nice link to Cliff May, by the way. Whenever I want to get to the bottom of a complex issue, I too go first to the most tendentious of partisan hacks, and you know, Cliff always comes through, the willfully blind pig that he is.

[Blind Pig]

I believe the Pentagon has demanded that Rockefeller retract those statements, because they have no basis in fact.

Speaking of facts, now what is it exactly a second investigation is supposed to show?

[Rick DeMent]

Mr. Pig,
It's not a second investigation; it's a second part to the report which deals mostly with the use of intelligence by the White House. The deal that was made was that this information will be released, but not until after the election, the speculation is that there is some stuff that is embarrassing to the administration. I would assume that none of it is too damming or else the Democrats would be having a hissy over the delay. It’s also possible that there is some embarrassing stuff on democrats which might also explain why it is not being released before the election.

[Blind Pig]

Then again, it could be a recipe for a new chip dip. But speculate away!

Or better yet, since you guys have been burned on Joseph Wilson, maybe you should hold off.

And Bloggerhead, I like that. When you attack a source instead of attacking the information from the source, I think that gives me a pretty good idea of where you are coming from.

Thanks!

[Ruester]

There are rules for real journalists and
then there are rules for hacks; hacks only
need one source to go to print, and there
is no premium on independent verifiability.
Also, hacks don't have to issue corrections
when they get stuff wrong, meaning they
are really free to just all-out-lie. Kind
of like Ahmed Chalabi.
And of course they are not going to publish
your letter: it wouldn't be fair to INFORMED
conservatives to have you speak for them...

[Blind Pig]

Ruester:

Maybe I need a second cup of coffee, but what the heck are you talking about?