Title: Gen. Hugh Shelton: Bush Officials Pushed For Iraq War 'Almost To The Point Of Insubordination' Source:
HuffintonPost URL Source:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/ ... on-iraq-war-bush_n_773038.html Published:Oct 24, 2010 Author:HuffintonPost Post Date:2010-10-24 23:40:59 by Brian S Keywords:None Views:24230 Comments:35
Former Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Hugh Shelton says that, during the Bush administration, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, and other Pentagon officials pushed to go to war with Iraq "almost to the point of insubordination."
"There was a very strong push in those days for us to go into Iraq, and there was absolutely no intelligence, zero, that pointed toward the Iraqis.," he told Christiane Amanpour on ABC's 'This Week' on Sunday. "It was all Al Qaida, Osama bin Laden. And yet there was an element there that was -- that was pushing to go into Iraq at the same time."
George Bush was focused on Afghanistan and initially resisted the pressure to invade Iraq, Shelton says. But he was eventually convinced.
"Afghanistan, remember, was going very, very well," Shelton said. "The drumbeat back here in Washington was still pushing, coming out of the Pentagon, let's go to Iraq, let's get -- take him out. And he finally said, let's go."
We've known that WMDs were found in Iraq for years. Unfortunately for neo-cons all that has been found were a few left-overs from the early 1990's. What hasn't been found, despite the promises of the Bush administration that they existed, were any large stockpiles, weapons manufactured after the early 1990's, or any sort of nuclear program.
On January 3, 2011 the GOP assumes responsibility for deficit spending.
Former Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Hugh Shelton says that, during the Bush administration, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, and other Pentagon officials pushed to go to war with Iraq "almost to the point of insubordination."
The Project for a New American Century (Kristol, Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, John Bolton, Bill Bennett etc) starting agitating to go to war with Iraq in 1996. They tried to get both Clinton and Netanyahu to do it.
In 2000, they attached themselves to the Bush campaign. Bush's first Treasury Secretary (Paul O’Neill) said that going to war with Iraq was "topic A" at Bush's cabinet meetings from day one.
The Bush administration used 9/11 an as excuse to invade Iraq. The administration initially claimed that Saddam was in cahoots with al Queda. Then they claimed that Iraq had nuclear weapons that could soon be given to al Queda to be used against the U.S.
Dick Armey has said that Cheney lied to him and other Congressional leaders about Iraq.
"Did Dick Cheney ... purposely tell me things he knew to be untrue?" Armey said. "I seriously feel that may be the case...Had I known or believed then what I believe now, I would have publicly opposed [the war] resolution right to the bitter end, and I believe I might have stopped it from happening."
The neo-cons have caused great harm to America. They need to be ejected from their leading positions in the conservative movement and GOP.
"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical." -- Thomas Jefferson
What hasn't been found, despite the promises of the Bush administration that they existed,
...and the Clinton Administration, both Democrat nominees for President in 2000 and 2004 and Biden in 2008...Harry Reid, Durbin, Hillary Clinton, Robert Byrd, Russ Feingold, Babs Boxer, Launtenberg, etc etc etc.
Bill Clinton: 'My biggest fear as our troops approached Baghdad was they would be hit with Weapons of Mass Destruction'.
Obama's first all-by-his-lonesome budget, btw, calls for a $1.17 trillion deficit.
Given that...Please please please, lets review the past few years related to Iraq, Lefties. Sure. Obama is continuing to implement the treaty that Bush signed with the Iraqis that will have all U.S. forces out by the end of next year.
Talking about WMD's, and the shrieks from the Left there were none, none were found, Bush Lied, blah blah blah.
Course you know this, and just want to change the topic away from this, because it demonstrates the Dems lied for almost a decade.
Obama's first all-by-his-lonesome budget, btw, calls for a $1.17 trillion deficit.
Bill Clinton: 'My biggest worry was our troops would be HIT WITH WMD'S AS THEY APPROACHED BAGHDAD.
Cheney told Armey that Iraq had nuclear WMD with miniature delivery vehicles. He also told him that Saddam was in cahoots with al Queda. NONE OF IT WAS TRUE.
According to Dick Armey, Cheney told him that: Iraq's "ability to miniaturize weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear," had been "substantially refined since the first Gulf War," and would soon result in "packages that could be moved even by ground personnel....We now know they have the ability to develop these weapons in a very portable fashion, and they have a delivery system in their relationship with organizations such as Al Qaeda."
We wasted more than $700 billion and over 4,000 American lives because of a LIE.
"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical." -- Thomas Jefferson
According to Dick Armey, Cheney told him that: Iraq's "ability to miniaturize weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear," had been "substantially refined since the first Gulf War," and would soon result in "packages that could be moved even by ground personnel....We now know they have the ability to develop these weapons in a very portable fashion, and they have a delivery system in their relationship with organizations such as Al Qaeda."
We wasted more than $700 billion and over 4,000 American lives because of a LIE.
Who can forget Rumsfeld's claim that we knew where the stockpiles of weapons were being kept?
The simple fact of the matter is that inspectors had unfettered access to Iraq's arms sites prior to being pulled out. You would have to be a complete moron to believe that Bush/Cheney weren't going to invade Iraq no matter what.
On January 3, 2011 the GOP assumes responsibility for deficit spending.
Who can forget Rumsfeld's claim that we knew where the stockpiles of weapons were being kept?
The simple fact of the matter is that inspectors had unfettered access to Iraq's arms sites prior to being pulled out. You would have to be a complete moron to believe that Bush/Cheney weren't going to invade Iraq no matter what.
Talking about WMD's, and the shrieks from the Left there were none, none were found, Bush Lied, blah blah blah.
Again, I'm not sure what you are talking about. We have found scattered chemical rounds left-over from pre-gulf War I. That has been common knowledge for years.
What we have never found is any evidence of stockpiles, active production of weapons, mobile weapons labs, or a reconstituted nuclear program, all of which Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld claimed existed prior to the invasion.
On January 3, 2011 the GOP assumes responsibility for deficit spending.
...and the Clinton Administration, both Democrat nominees for President in 2000 and 2004 and Biden in 2008...Harry Reid, Durbin, Hillary Clinton, Robert Byrd, Russ Feingold, Babs Boxer, Launtenberg, etc etc etc.
Bill Clinton: 'My biggest fear as our troops approached Baghdad was they would be hit with Weapons of Mass Destruction'.
The difference between Bush and Clinton was that Clinton wasn't dumb enough to believe invading Iraq was a good idea.
On January 3, 2011 the GOP assumes responsibility for deficit spending.
I'm facinated by how the 'claim' 'they lied' has changed...kinda reminds me of how the movie 'loose change' has been re edited five times because its theories kept getting destroyed by facts.
Obama's first all-by-his-lonesome budget, btw, calls for a $1.17 trillion deficit.
What we have never found is any evidence of stockpiles, active production of weapons, mobile weapons labs, or a reconstituted nuclear program, all of which Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld claimed existed prior to the invasion.
...all of which Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Clinton/Lieberman/Gore/Hillary Clinton/Reid/John Kerry/Boxer/Durbin/Feingold/Kennedy/Byrd/ et al claimed existed prior to the invasion.
Fixed it for you.
Obama's first all-by-his-lonesome budget, btw, calls for a $1.17 trillion deficit.
...and the Clinton Administration, both Democrat nominees for President in 2000 and 2004 and Biden in 2008...Harry Reid, Durbin, Hillary Clinton, Robert Byrd, Russ Feingold, Babs Boxer, Launtenberg, etc etc etc. Bill Clinton: 'My biggest fear as our troops approached Baghdad was they would be hit with Weapons of Mass Destruction'.
The difference between Bush and Clinton was that Clinton wasn't dumb enough to believe invading Iraq was a good idea.
The difference is when its pointed out your previous claim it was only 'Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld' you fall back on this bullshit.
Obama's first all-by-his-lonesome budget, btw, calls for a $1.17 trillion deficit.
The neo-cons have caused great harm to America. They need to be ejected from their leading positions in the conservative movement and GOP.
We actually agree on something.
Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains. Thomas Jefferson
...all of which Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Clinton/Lieberman/Gore/Hillary Clinton/Reid/John Kerry/Boxer/Durbin/Feingold/Kennedy/Byrd/ et al claimed existed prior to the invasion.
They were told they existed. Perhaps they didn't fully believe the party line but were unwilling to take the political risk that they might be wrong.
Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains. Thomas Jefferson
Maybe. Bottom line is they all claimed this, from Reagan through the invasion. So did almost every world leader worht mentioning.
They claimed they existed, but only Bush claimed that he had reconstituted his nuclear program, that he was building an army of drones, and that he KNEW where the weapons were being hidden.
And ultimately, only the Bush administration ordered the invasion of Iraq.
On January 3, 2011 the GOP assumes responsibility for deficit spending.
They claimed they existed, but only Bush claimed that he had reconstituted his nuclear program, that he was building an army of drones, and that he KNEW where the weapons were being hidden.
He wasn't the 'only one'. CIA, NSA provided the reports his decision was based on. And the previous administration also believe it...pretty sure that was some Democrat named Clinton.
Obama's first all-by-his-lonesome budget, btw, calls for a $1.17 trillion deficit.
Because you always take left-wing ideological positions, while I evaluate situations based on their merits. The left is sometimes correct (a stopped watch is right twice a day too). If was an ideological rightist, you and I would never agree.
"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical." -- Thomas Jefferson
He wasn't the 'only one'. CIA, NSA provided the reports his decision was based on. And the previous administration also believe it...pretty sure that was some Democrat named Clinton.
The Clinton administration never claimed Saddam had "reconstituted his nuclear programs" or was building an "army of drones"
And, again, the Clinton administration wasn't stupid enough to invade Iraq. No matter how hard you try, you can't overcome that simple fact. This was Bush's decision, not Clinton's.
On January 3, 2011 the GOP assumes responsibility for deficit spending.
Because you always take left-wing ideological positions, while I evaluate situations based on their merits. The left is sometimes correct (a stopped watch is right twice a day too). If was an ideological rightist, you and I would never agree.
Perhaps you give yourself too much credit, and me too little.
Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains. Thomas Jefferson
