The RUSH TO WAR????????????? What rush??????

[busybody..]

Sauntering Toward Baghdad


Have you heard the one about the turtle that got mugged by a gang of snails? The police arrived on the scene and asked the turtle what happened. "I don't know," he replied. "It all happened so fast."

We were reminded of this joke when we read the headline of an Associated Press dispatch of this morning: "Democrats Urge Bush Not to Rush to War." This is news? The administration's critics have been complaining of a "rush to war" for months. Just a few examples:

"The Rush to War"--headline, The Nation, Aug. 7, 2002


"Secretary of State Colin L. Powell . . . and his advisers have decided that they should focus international discussion on how Iraq would be governed after Mr. Hussein--not only in an effort to assure a democracy but as a way to outflank administration hawks and slow the rush to war."--New York Times, Aug. 16, 2002


"Christian Leaders Urge U.S. to 'Stop Rush to War' With Iraq"--headline, United Methodist Church press release, Aug. 30, 2002


"A Reckless Rush to War"--headline, editorial, The American Prospect, Sept. 25, 2002


"We have not been told why . . . we must rush to war rather than pursuing other options."--Rep. Barbara Lee (D., Calif.), Sept. 30, 2002


"We are rushing into war without fully discussing why."--Sen. Robert Byrd (D., W.Va.), Oct. 3, 2002
You get the idea. By the time the liberation of Iraq begins in earnest, perhaps a month from now, critics of the Bush administration will have spent at least six months complaining about the "rush to war." But half a year's preparation is no rush; it's more of a saunter. (In comparison, it was less than four weeks after Sept. 11 that the first bombs fell on Afghanistan.) Still, we can imagine a dazed Bobby Byrd stumbling onto the Senate floor and exclaiming: "I don't know, it all happened so fast!"

"Rush to war," of course, has become a cliché. A Google search turns up 6,570 pages containing the phrase and the word Iraq. "Rush to war" is not an argument; it is a slogan, a substitute for thought--a product of the same great minds that enriched America's political rhetoric with "They just don't get it," "It's the economy, stupid," "Contract on America," "It's all about sex" and "Let every vote count."

If we may borrow an oldie but a goody, it's time to move on.

 

[mbb308]

The last I heard, I think Rush is for the war.

 

[phrodeau]

 

[busybody..]

SADDAM, THIS IS JACQUES, THEY'RE HEADED TO SITE 7:
U.S. to Make Iraq Intelligence Public: Evidence of Weapons Concealment to Be Shared in Effort to Boost Support for War (Bob Woodward, January 28, 2003, Washington Post)


The Bush administration has assembled what it believes to be significant intelligence showing that Iraq has been actively moving and concealing banned weapons systems and related equipment from United Nations inspectors, according to informed sources. [...]

The concealment efforts have often taken place days or hours ahead of visits by U.N. inspection teams, which have been operating in Iraq during the past two months, according to these accounts. In many cases, the United States has what one source called "compelling" intelligence that is "unambiguous" in proving that Iraq is hiding banned weapons.


Speaking to reporters yesterday, Powell said that U.N. inspectors have picked up similar indications of Iraqi concealment and that the United States supported the inspectors' claims. "The inspectors have also told us that they have evidence that Iraq has moved or hidden items at sites just prior to inspection visits. That's what the inspectors say, not what Americans say, not what American intelligence says," he said. "Well, we certainly corroborate all of that, but this is information from the inspectors."


Administration officials have said for weeks that the United States has intelligence demonstrating that Iraq maintains banned weapons programs. But they have said they could not disclose the information because doing so would jeopardize U.S. intelligence-collection methods or military operations against possible weapon storage sites in the event of war. [...]


A senior State Department official said the information the administration plans to release will show what the Iraqis are "doing, what they're not doing, how they're deceiving."


"We will lay out the case that we can, and we will leave it to others to judge," the official said. "When you listen to it, it should be disturbing to those people who listen objectively. To those who have made up their minds and want to duck their heads in the sand, it will pass right over them."


Spokesmen for the White House and U.S. intelligence agencies declined to comment.


In one recent example of what officials described as Iraqi obstruction, a ranking Iraqi official issued a warning that U.N. inspectors were planning a visit and directed those at the site to conceal specific prohibited weapons. In another, an Iraqi official directed scientists and others involved in research or production of chemical and biological weapons to conceal their files and papers from the inspectors.


Unfortunately, the UN is such a sieve--with the French in particular leaking information to Saddam so he can hide stuff before inspectors get there--that we can only release truly valuable evidence just before we go to war. It would be irresponsible to give Saddam time to move weapons we know about for sure when we could instead wait a couple weeks and announce that we know where they are with a barrage of cruise missiles.

 

[Spinaroonie]

Hey BusyBody...

Did you ever see Wag the Dog? That film is more important than ever.

 

[Gusty Wind]

hmmmm ... my guess is he is tii BUSY digging....

 

[badasschick]

Hey BusyBody...

Did you ever see Wag the Dog? That film is more important than ever.

Good ol' shoe......

 

[QuickDuck]

hehehe this is funny... in my bored trolling, it appears as though old BusyRyan has posted this exact same cut and paste job on three or four seperate links.

Its the sign of a desperate person looking for attention, when you have to bump your own threads

 

[clit_licker30]

Hey BusyBody...

Did you ever see Wag the Dog? That film is more important than ever.

No you are confused. Clinton was the Wag The Dog president. He had the right idea to bomb Sadamn, but he was a gutless wonder. He was just covering his ass and BJ's.

President Bush is a real man and truly a leader. He is trying to save this nation and the world from these terrorist idiots.

 

[badasschick]

No you are confused. Clinton was the Wag The Dog president. He had the right idea to bomb Sadamn, but he was a gutless wonder. He was just covering his ass and BJ's.

President Bush is a real man and truly a leader. He is trying to save this nation and the world from these terrorist idiots.

How the hell do you save the world?...I don't see plummeting astroids on the horizon.

if you cut off one head, another will just grow in its place.

I swear, some people aren't happy if they can't shoot at or blow something up.

 

[clit_licker30]

How the hell do you save the world?...I don't see plummeting astroids on the horizon.

if you cut off one head, another will just grow in its place.

I swear, some people aren't happy if they can't shoot at or blow something up.

Kinda like Oakland Raider Fans, huh?

You need a bigger faster knife to get all those heads.

 

[SabrSuave23]

Thank God there are Americans that feel this is a neccessary step towards peace in the world. I don't want to see friends that I still have in the U.S. military go, but we all took an oath to protect and serve. Hitler had to go and soo does Hussein. God bless us all