How Bush lost the war, encouraged terrorists, and weakened the American military

by Len Hart, The Existentialist Cowboy

So much nonsense and outright lies are believed by conservatives about almost everything that liberals and other more thoughtful segments of our society are often overwhelmed. So suspicious we have become that we are tempted to think it a deliberate stratgy.

Indeed, many are awed and intimidated by the sheer magnitude of the big lie. The American right wing has created a complex gestalt of self-reinforcing delusions, myths and outright lies. Some are repeated from ignorance, but others are told deliberately to dupe a gullible public.

Older falsehoods are cited in support of newer lies. It is not merely the thin veneer of PR. This dubious maze of claptrap is, rather, the very foundations of the American conservative movement.

The Republican party depends upon people believing its propaganda. The Bush administration moved forward on so many fronts that single, isolated truths here and there would be drowned out by image, slogan and lies. It is possible, however, to categorize the lies and in retrospect, to create a map, as it were, by which future lies might be spotted or predicted. For example, Foreign Affairs magazine recently stated that the war in Iraq has made terrorism worse and America more vulnerable to another terrorist attack. The Bush administration can be depended upon to cite this as a reason to stay in Iraq. That the US is in greater danger of attack because terrorism has been made worse cannot exculpate a criminal decision to place this nation and its citizens in harm's way.

I no longer care about Bush's motives. I no longer care that he may be but a front for a shadowy cabal of oil barons and exponents of Zbigniew Brzezinski's The Grand Chessboard played out by a criminal priesthood of NEOCONS, illuminati or worse. I don't care! My concern is to round up the usual suspects (and they know who they are) and bring them to trial for capital crimes. I don't need a theory to read the applicable laws and come to the conclusion that a venal gang of liars, murderers, thieves and con artists have seized the White House in what even Republicans boasted was a coup d'etat!

They are considered only 'socially obnoxious' or hateful personalities, and every one of us knows of someone who fits the description. Corrupt and callous politicians, social or career fast climbers, authoritarian leaders, abusing and aggressive persons, etc., are among them. A common characteristic is that they engage systematically in deception and manipulation of others for personal gain. In fact, many successful and adapted non-violent sociopaths can be found in our society. An NIMH epidemiologic study reported that only 47% of those who met the SPD criteria had a significant arrest record. The most relevant events for these persons occur in the area of job problems, domestic violence, traffic offenses, and severe marital difficulties. (Sabbatini, 1998, p.2-3)

—Sabbatini, R.M.E., Ph.D. (1998). Brain Diseases: The Psychopath's Brain., as quoted by Rebecca Horton, "The Sociopath."

The biggest lies are told by Bush. They are about 911. That a US war on Iraq was but a part of that larger campaign is Bush's most egregious fraud. Again, I have no interest in theories but that applies especially to the Bush administration's official conspiracy theory of 911. There is not a shred of evidence to support it. Nevertheless, the gullible, possibly crooked, mainstream media followed on cue with goosesteps and obeisance.

Let's isolate the nonsense about 911 specifically, the "official" conspiracy theory, an absurd hodge podge of slogans, half-truths, platitudes, factoids, distortions, fallacies and outright lies. What is Al Qaeda if not a "conspiracy"? What is the "Axis of Evil" if not a conspiracy? And, if anything at all said by Bush at any time is in any way true, then what were Hani Hanjour and Atta doing if not conspiring? Why are 7 of the so-called hijackers alive and giving interviews? We are expected not to believe every absurd conspiracy theory but that of the administration when it is the administration that has strained credulity to the breaking point.

Bush lost the war on terrorism by waging and losing the war against the people of Iraq. The people of Baghdad have suffered most. It is doubtful that Bush ever killed, captured, or brought to justice a single bona fide terrorist. It was enough for Bush to produce a body and call it a "terrorist". Bush, of course, assumed for himself the power to define terrorist; therefore, a terrorist now may not have been a terrorist earlier. Bush definitions may be arbitrary. A "terrorist" is whatever Bush says it is. You just have to take Bush's word for it from day to day.

Bush's Orwellian use of the word "insurgent" clouds the issue; it deceives the American people and the world. What Bush calls an "insurgency" is most often a "guerrilla" resistance to the US occupation. It was Dick Cheney who claimed that we would be greeted as liberators in Baghdad. Now those who did not greet the US thus are called "terrorists" or "insurgents". Bushies are not only venal liars, they are naive.

At last, no one in the Bush administration was able to make a convincing case that Iraq had anything at all to do with the events of 911 - the catch rationale for an endless war. This is absurd and especially so when you consider the fact that 911 was never properly or thoroughly investigated.

lin Powell blamed Al Qaeda for 911. But it is clear now that al Qaeda never had a strong presence in Iraq until after the US attack and invasion. Predictably, the Al Qaeda presence now will be cited as reasons the US cannot leave.

Iraq's Alleged Al-Qaeda Ties Were Disputed Before War

The fact of the matter is bluntly this: we don't know who planned or executed 911. We do know that the various "official conspiracy theories" are full of holes. For the most part, we have only Bush's word for an assortment of bunkum and claptrap. We know what his word is worth. Nothing. And we have George W. Bush to thank for forever obscuring the truth about the war against Iraq.

Bush was caught lying about the crash of airliners in New York. From the White House web site itself, you can verify that on two ocassions, Bush said that he had seen the first airliner crash the north tower on live TV, presumably before going into the Florida classroom. But Bush could not have seen any such thing. Footage showing the first impact was not known, let alone broadcast, until later that evening. In total, seven different scenarios were put forward laying out how Bush and Rove might have learned of the first crash. At this point, we know that Bush's statements about having seen the first crash live are absurd and are most probably deliberate lies.

One version of events claimed that Rove told Bush of a plane accidentally crashing into the World Trade Center. That theory doesn't explain the previous, credible warnings of terrorist strikes and hijackings. Claims that Bush implemented CONPLAN, an emergency response plan issued in 1995 is simply not true. The orders were given by lower-ranking federal officials. A live broadcast of that event would have required the presence of a crew with advance knowledge. Indeed, footage taken from a fire station was shown but not until hours later. Even if the school had had a TV on, as Bush told his audiences, he would NOT have seen the crash live. He could only have seen the crash live if a closed circuit TV feed had been arranged in advance. It is fair to ask of a liar: what did you see and how?

Bush promised to track down the terrorists, smoke them out, bring them to justice. In fact, Bush's record with regard to tracking down terrorists is a big zero. I cannot name a single 911 terrorist against whom charges have been proven at the end of Due Process of Law. Amid little fanfare, authorities made an arrest in Detroit about a week after the strike. Miraculously it resulted in two convictions for a terror related "conspiracy". But what about 911? That's as good as it gets for the an incompetent establishment. The case was, typically these days, "rife with prosecutorial" misconduct and was said by astute observers to have been "lame" to begin with. The convictions were eventually overturned and the prosecutors were indicted for lying to the jury. The judge said,

The prosecution materially misled the court, the jury and the defense as to the nature, character and complexion of critical evidence that provided important foundations for the prosecution's case...

Prosecution lies included the identification of "doodles" as sketches of targeted planes and military bases. The prosecutions big witness also turned out to have been a professional con man. Two other witnessess - who might have cast doubt on the prosecution case - had already been conveniently deported.

Later, "a bunch of Buffalo-based Muslims" were found guilty of having attended an al Qaeda training camp, prior to 9/11. But the government presented no evidence that the group had been, at any time, planning any terrorist acts in the United States. Most significantly, no connection to the events of 911 were ever established despite long and intense FBI surveillance, surveillance that had been personally ordered by Bush. The logic that followed the failed case still boggles the mind. FBI agent Ed Needham, told the New York Times, "We were looking to prevent something. And we did. Obviously nothing happened. So we all did our job."

Bush lost the war on terrorism in many ways, but telling lies about it and getting caught at it is highest on the list of culprits. Prominently, Bush never articulated an enemy, and, most certainly failed to identify one. Terrorism is not a philosophy or an ideology. It is a tactic. It may be exploited by bona fide enemies but they are only strengthened when Bush is seen to have overplayed his hand.

The number of those calling themselves enemies of the US has grown since Bush began a war of naked aggression against Iraq. Significantly, Bush enjoyed high ratings at home and abroad when it was perceived, rightly or wrongly, that the US response would be confined to probable culprits amid a responsible campaign to bring them to justice, justly. Instead, Bush chose to lash out blindly even as he exploited terrorism to crack down on legitimate dissent. Bush chose swagger over stealth and instead of reducing the terrorist threat he has made it worse.

When Bush abandoned American ideals he lost the ideal of America.

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