Bush Forcefully Attacks Iraq Critics

November 11th, 2005 2:28 pmBush Forcefully Attacks Iraq Critics
By Deb Riechmann / Associated Press
TOBYHANNA, Pa. - President Bush, in the most forceful defense yet of his Iraq war policy, accused critics Friday of trying to rewrite history and charged that they're undercutting America's forces on the front lines.
"The stakes in the global war on terror are too high and the national interest is too important for politicians to throw out false charges," the president said in his combative Veterans Day speech.

"While it's perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began," the president said.

Bush's defense of his policy came at a time of growing doubts and criticism about a war that has claimed the lives of more than 2,050 members of the U.S. military. As casualties have climbed, Bush's popularity has dropped. His approval rating now is at 37 percent in the latest AP-Ipsos poll, an all time low point of his presidency.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who ran unsuccessfully against Bush last year, quickly challenged the president's charges. "I wish President Bush knew better than to dishonor America's veterans by playing the politics of fear and smear on Veterans Day," said Kerry, who voted in 2002 to give Bush the authority to wage war but later voted against additional funds for Iraq and Afghanistan reconstruction. Kerry argued at the time that Bush didn't have a solid plan to restore peace.

"This administration misled a nation into war by cherry-picking intelligence and stretching the truth beyond recognition," Kerry said.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said, "It's deeply regrettable that the president is using Veterans Day as a campaign-like attempt to rebuild his own credibility by tearing down those who seek the truth about the clear manipulation of intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war."

The president spoke at the Tobyhanna Army Depot on a stage decorated with posters that said "Strategy for Victory."

His appearance came as his primary justification for the 2003 invasion — that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction — has come under fresh attack on Capitol Hill. Democrats have seized on the indictment of a now-resigned senior White House aide in the CIA leak case to shine the spotlight on how the president and other officials used intelligence about Iraq in the weeks and months leading up to the war.
A congressional inquiry into the administration's handling of prewar intelligence is pending.

Bush said that foreign intelligence services and Democrats and Republicans alike were convinced at the time that former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

"Some Democrats and anti-war critics are now claiming we manipulated the intelligence and mislead the American people about why we went to war," Bush said.

He said those critics have made those allegations although they know that a Senate investigation "found no evidence" of political pressure to change the intelligence community's assessments related to Saddam's weapons program.

Bush also said they know the United Nations passed more than a dozen resolutions citing Saddam's development and possession of weapons of mass destruction.

"More than 100 Democrats in the House and the Senate who had access to the same intelligence voted to support removing Saddam Hussein from power," he said.

Bush did not single out any critics by name but said many of them had supported Kerry. The president said the criticism has taken a toll on U.S. forces.

"These baseless attacks send the wrong signal to our troops and to an enemy that is questioning America's will," Bush said.

"As our troops fight a ruthless enemy determined to destroy our way of life, they deserve to know that their elected leaders who voted to send them to war continue to stand behind them," the president said. "Our troops deserve to know that this support will remain firm when the going gets tough. And our troops deserve to know that, whatever our differences in Washington, our will is strong, our nation is united and we will settle for nothing less than victory."

"We will never back down. We will never give in. We will never accept anything less than complete victory," Bush declared.

Bush said the United States and its allies are determined to keep weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of extremists and prevent them from gaining control of any country.

Bush singled out Syria for particular criticism, saying its government had taken "two disturbing steps" in recent days. He cited the arrest of Syria pro-democracy activist Kamal Labwani and a "strident speech" by President Bashar Assad. In that speech, Assad said his government would cooperate with a U.N. investigation that implicated Syrian officials in the killing of a Lebanese leader, but warned he would no longer "play their game" if Syria "is going to be harmed."

Bush said Syria "must stop exporting violence and start importing democracy."

Bush's political adviser Karl Rove, who is still under the cloud of the CIA leak investigation, hopped Air Force One to attend Bush's speech.

The president's appearance came as Vice President Dick Cheney spoke at Arlington National Cemetery, where the president traditionally goes on Veterans Day.

Cheney laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns and told a crowd of about 6,000 at the cemetery's Memorial Amphitheater that U.S. forces have toppled two dictatorships and liberated 50 million people.
"Difficult missions are still to come and we cannot know every turn that lies ahead," he said. "Yet we can be certain that by the resolve of our country, by the rightness of our cause...we will prevail."

Long Time No Blog

It's been forever and a day since I've updated this thing. Since my daily chores are done, I'm feeling like letting the world know what's been happening with me!

I survived my final auction back in May. it was without a few of my dear friends. Zippy left WOSU in January. Little did we know, her final day at work would be Ron's final day on earth. For me personally, that was a life altering moment. I just kept telling myself, you can get through this dammit, so do it! With that and no choice, I buried myself in work. At the end of the tunnel was a good event and an annual trip to the Cape with a decision to move to MA. I know, I can't believe it at times either! The girl from Columbus picked up and moved in with the chick from Jersey!

The summer is not a blur, but I do look back and think, how in the hell did this all get done? I had been settled a mere week before our new house projects started. It was quite fun and similar to auction, but on steroids! During this time the hurricane had hit New Orleans. I had the news up rather loud since I was painting a bathroom adjacent to the TV. I found myself in shock everyday as I watched these helpless people be abandoned by our government. I add this up to the ineffectiveness of GW once again. If at this point every freaking American doesn't get the fact this man is a COMPLETE failure to the country, I don't know what will wake your ass up. Oh, maybe 2,000+ dead soldiers fighting a bogus war may help you see light. Ooooops, I went off on a tangent!

Anyhoo, back to life. CA and I are now settled and very happy in our new Harvest Home. I received my final award from PBS in October. That felt pretty damn good, 9 awards in 13 years of service, you gotta love that! I got lucky and also found my true harvesty job at Tea Forte'. I start my new career soon to add with my new vehicle, new house, new life. It all seems to be falling into place quite nicely.

I intend to start bitching about GW again. The CIA leak and all that should come from it will leave alot of us who tried to put Kerry in office saying "I told you so!". But, no one likes a wise arse right? The Clinton blow job is starting to look like a fly on the wall compared to lying to your country to take them into war. I've always felt the truth has a way of finding its way out, this is no different, so pay attention dammit!