US-Iraq/war/justifications

page type::article thing type::analysis thing type::background

Official Justifications
In justifying the US invasion of Iraq, George W. Bush claimed:
 * (a) that there was strong evidence of WMDs, when it seems clear that there was none and that this was well known to Bush and his closest advisors at the time the claims were made
 * (a1) Circumstantial evidence: Bush was apparently determined to invade Iraq whether or not evidence was found, but although this indicates dishonesty it does not prove that he actually knew there was no evidence; it just proves that he didn't care whether the invasion was truly justified.
 * "One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief... My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it... If I have a chance to invade, if I had that much capital, I'm not going to waste it." – George W. Bush
 * 2007-09-06 Bush knew Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction "Salon exclusive: Two former CIA officers say the president squelched top-secret intelligence, and a briefing by George Tenet, months before invading Iraq." by Sidney Blumenthal
 * (b) that Iraq had refused to allow UN inspectors (see, final paragraph) to confirm their claimed lack of WMDs, when in fact Iraq did allow the inspectors in and the inspectors had found nothing. ("In 2002, the commission began searching Iraq for weapons of mass destruction, ultimately finding none." and "The Iraqi government did what it was required in the 1441 resolution and presented a report of its weapons. The US government claimed that the report was false for not recognizing having the WMDs. It announced the invasion in the Spring of 2003." )
 * (c) that Iraq was connected to the 9/11 attacks (for which there is no evidence):
 * 2003-03-21 Letter to Congress: "The use of armed forces against Iraq is consistent with the United States and other countries continuing to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations or person who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001."
 * 2006-03-20 President Discusses War on Terror and Operation Iraqi Freedom: "First, just if I might correct a misperception, I don't think we ever said – at least I know I didn't say that there was a direct connection between September the 11th and Saddam Hussein."
 * 2001-09-12: Richard Clarke says that on 2001-09-12, President Bush "testily" asked him to try to find evidence that Saddam Hussein was connected to the terrorist attacks. After an initial denial, the White House has since conceded that the meeting took place. In response he wrote a report stating there was absolutely no evidence of Iraqi involvement and got it signed by all relevant agencies, including the FBI, and the CIA. The paper was quickly returned by a deputy with a note saying "Please update and resubmit," apparently unshown to the President.
 * 2007-03-04 The Seven War Memo: General Wesley Clark says he was told "We've made the decision we're going to war with Iraq." on or about 2001-09-20. This was soon followed by plans to invade Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finally, Iran.

Sources below have additional points.

Many people  believe this list constitutes an impeachable offense.

Comments

 * The Architects of War: Where Are They Now?: telling quotes from various Bush administration officials on the need to invade Iraq, likely costs and benefits of same, etc., as well as updates on their status

WMDs as justification?! WTF??
The claimed presence of WMDs in Iraq always seemed to me like an extremely good reason not to invade.

Picture the situation in 2002: you have a crazy dictator who has demonstrated that his only interest is power and that he is willing to sacrifice anything, including his own people, to keep it. Add to this an invasion by an incomparably strong foreign power, pushing that dictator back up against the wall: all of his genuine strategic options are used up, he knows he will either be killed or captured by an extremely unsympathetic enemy. If he had actually been in possession of WMDs, what are the odds that he would have taken the humane route and declined to use them?

So I have to ask the question: why did anyone buy the WMDs lie as a reason in favor of invasion in the first place? Oh, certainly, if Saddam had really had WMDs, or been in the process of making them, we couldn't have just stood around doing nothing about it – but bashing the hornets' nest has to be the worst possible way to go about dealing with that situation (unless you know that he hasn't actually got any of them ready yet; Bush did his best to convince us of the opposite, that Saddam was ready to use his WMDs at any time). When a mad bomber terrorist takes hostages, you tread delicately; going in with guns blazing is a recipe for disaster.

Well, we've managed to get our disaster even in spite of the lack of WMDs; we were just damn lucky that the WMDs were a figment of neoconservative ambition, because apparently we happily bash the hornet's nest when The Decider tells us to. The results could have been much, much worse if the WMDs had been anything more real than scrap tubing and twisted words. --Woozle 14:34, 16 March 2007 (EDT)

Reference

 * Wikipedia: rationale for the Iraq War
 * The vote on HJ res 114 "To Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq"
 * 2002-10-10 15:05 FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 455
 * 2002-10-11 12:50 U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 107th Congress - 2nd Session

to file

 * 2006-12-20 Diplomat's suppressed document lays bare the lies behind Iraq war: The UK had no reasons to believe Iraq possessed significant chemical, bio, or nuclear warfare weapons. Also, "British officials warned US diplomats that bringing down the Iraqi dictator would lead to the chaos the world has since witnessed."
 * 2006-12-09 Smith's war critique cracks wall of support: Republican Senator Gordon Smith's switch from passive support for the war may signal the beginning of a fall-off in GOP support
 * 2006-11-18 Spy says al-Qaeda tricked US into war (please make a note here if you get redirected when trying to access this site)
 * 2006-09-15 The Rest of the Story: Iraq's Links to Al Qaeda: may cast new light on some of the accusations above
 * 2005-12-01 Lying about the War
 * 2003-04-01 Prewar predictions coming back to bite by Susan Page, USA TODAY
 * 2003-01-19 Saddam will not be deposed by sweet reason or sanctions: pre-invasion opinions from a number of prominent Britons
 * 2003-01-12 U.S. Decision On Iraq Has Puzzling Past: "Opponents of War Wonder When, How Policy Was Set"
 * 2002-08-26 MoveOn petition against invading Iraq

Commentary

 * 2005-12-01 Lying about the War: "truth became the first casualty in their campaign to whip up support."
 * 2003-03-18 Why I Oppose An Iraq War by Russ Daggatt: exposes several blatant misstatements by the administration which do not seem like they could possibly be innocent errors
 * 2003-01-21 One of the More Nauseating Images by

Video

 * 2007-08-02 video Rep. Kucinich: V.P. Dick Cheney "Fabricated" the Intel (see also Dennis Kucinich, Dick Cheney)

Quotes

 * "I thought they were out of their minds, once I realised that they weren't kidding. The most inappropriate, the most counterproductive thing we could've done would've been to invade Iraq and I rather thought that was self-evident." – Richard A. Clarke, former US Counter-Terrorism Advisor

Related Information

 * "In 2003, Republicans refused to allow a vote on a bill introduced by Waxman that would have established an independent commission to review the false claims Bush made in asking Congress to declare war on Iraq. That same year, the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Porter Goss, refused to hold hearings on whether the administration had forged evidence of the nuclear threat allegedly posed by Iraq. A year later the chair of the Government Reform Committee, Tom Davis, refused to hold hearings on new evidence casting doubt on the "nuclear tubes" cited by the Bush administration before the war. Sen. Pat Roberts, who pledged to issue a Senate Intelligence Committee report after the 2004 election on whether the Bush administration had misled the public before the invasion, changed his mind after the president won re-election. 'I think it would be a monumental waste of time to re-plow this ground any further,' Roberts said."