Future historians will marvel at the ability of the Bush Administration to launch a full-scale invasion of a foreign country based on false intelligence, aided by a dishonest and incompetent press. It does seem like more Americans are waking up to the magnitude of the deception (Gallup Poll Results Published April 26, 2005):
Half of Americans (50%) say the Bush administration deliberately misled
Americans about whether Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. This is
the highest percentage that Gallup has found on this measure since the
question was first asked in late May 2003. At that time, 31% said the
administration deliberately misled Americans. This sentiment has
gradually increased over time, to 39% in July 2003, 43% in
January/February 2004, and 47% in October 2004.
The nomination of John Bolton as UN ambassador has allowed us a glimpse behind the curtains of the Bush Administration. John Bolton has made his career on intimidating people to produce results that his superiors want – even if the results are patently untrue. It is clear that he threatened career intelligence officers to product false intelligence on WMDs in both Cuba and Syria – and then lied about this to the senate committee vetting his nomination.
If the Bolton nomination fails, it will be due in part to the work of blogger Steve Clemons. His blog The Washington Note has served as a clearing house for information on Bolton, and has been a safe haven for honest and dedicated people in the State Department to come forward with the truth about Bolton and other neocons. Steve is fulfilling the role that the free press used to play in our country. In today’s post he eloquently states why his blog has been critical in this process:
If those of us involved in the Bolton Battle have done anything, we
helped create a political space that sensible Democrat and Republican
politicians could get into to think less like robots over this
nomination — and to ponder the big issues that Bolton’s nomination has
pushed to the surface. For that, this blog is proud — and whether we
win or lose this battle over John Bolton — it was absolutely the right
one to fight with the White House.I want the White House to show to what absurd lengths it will go to
push a candidate so disdainful of the United Nations, so disdainful of
principled American engagement in the world, so disdainful of dissent
and debate among colleagues on the AMERICAN side of the equation, so
disdainful of the realities of delicate diplomacy in vital national
security matters, so disdainful of the U.S. Congress to the point of
lying outright to them about his past, so disdainful of the separation
of powers in our government.
Steve, thanks for your good fight. You are a true American patriot.
