I listened to President Bush speak to the City Club of Cleveland today, and there he was trying to tell us things are going well in Iraq. Because of so many past misleading statements by this President, it is now hard to believe anything he says.
One time he was saying that the Iraqi Army now controls 75% of the country. For some reason this tid-bit of a fact jumped to my mind. 75% of Iraq is desert. Could the President be so devious as to say that the Iraqi Army now controlled 75% of the country, and that 75% was in reality Iraq's sand box? After everything else he has said in the past... yes, he could.
George Bush was firm about America's defense of Israel. In today's speech Bush used the excuse of a UN resolution against Iraq as a reason for us to go to war. Here is how much UN resolutions mean in the real world. Here is a list of some of the UN resolutions against Israel. For which we will never go to war.
This is a list of UN resolutions against the country that George Bush says America will go to war for, but George gave only one UN Resolution as part of our excuse in attacking Iraq. That tells me there are UN resolutions, and there are UN resolutions. Some just mean more than others.
I listened to the whole speech and some of the questions after. One man asked how we could trust the government again after they told us that Saddam had something to do with 9/11, Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Iraq was trying to by nuclear material from Niger. He then stated to the President that every one of these statements had proven to be false.
Right away George jumped on the 9/11 Saddam connection, and remarked that he never said there was a connection. He then talked about a commission he had set up to get us better intelligence, never answering the WMD and nuclear materials part of the question.
I just now Googled "Bush 9/11 Iraq," and here is just one of the thousands of things that came up. CNN.com—"Bush insists Iraq, al Qaeda had 'relationship' President Bush on Thursday said that there were 'numerous contacts' between Iraq and the terror network."
- Resolution 106: "... 'condemns' Israel for Gaza raid".
- Resolution 111: "... 'condemns' Israel for raid on Syria that killed fifty-six people".
- Resolution 127: "... 'recommends' Israel suspends it's 'no-man's zone' in Jerusalem".
- Resolution 162: "... 'urges' Israel to comply with UN decisions".
- Resolution 171: "... determines flagrant violations' by Israel in its attack on Syria".
- Resolution 228: "... 'censures' Israel for its attack on Samu in the West Bank, then under Jordanian control".
- Resolution 237: "... 'urges' Israel to allow return of new 1967 Palestinian refugees".
- Resolution 248: "... 'condemns' Israel for its massive attack on Karameh in Jordan".
- Resolution 250: "... 'calls' on Israel to refrain from holding military parade in Jerusalem".
- Resolution 251: "... 'deeply deplores' Israeli military parade in Jerusalem in defiance of Resolution 250".
- Resolution 252: "... 'declares invalid' Israel's acts to unify Jerusalem as Jewish capital".
- Resolution 256: "... 'condemns' Israeli raids on Jordan as 'flagrant violation".
- Resolution 259: "... 'deplores' Israel's refusal to accept UN mission to probe occupation".
- Resolution 262: "... 'condemns' Israel for attack on Beirut airport".
- Resolution 265: "... 'condemns' Israel for air attacks for Salt in Jordan".
- Resolution 267: "... 'censures' Israel for administrative acts to change the status of Jerusalem".
- Resolution 270: "... 'condemns' Israel for air attacks on villages in southern Lebanon".
- Resolution 271: "... 'condemns' Israel's failure to obey UN resolutions on Jerusalem".
- Resolution 279: "... 'demands' withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon".
- Resolution 280: "... 'condemns' Israeli's attacks against Lebanon".
- Resolution 285: "... 'demands' immediate Israeli withdrawal form Lebanon".
- Resolution 298: "... 'deplores' Israel's changing of the status of Jerusalem".
- Resolution 313: "... 'demands' that Israel stop attacks against Lebanon".
- Resolution 316: "... 'condemns' Israel for repeated attacks on Lebanon".
- Resolution 317: "... 'deplores' Israel's refusal to release Arabs abducted in Lebanon".
- Resolution 332: "... 'condemns' Israel's repeated attacks against Lebanon".
- Resolution 337: "... 'condemns' Israel for violating Lebanon's sovereignty".
- Resolution 347: "... 'condemns' Israeli attacks on Lebanon".
- Resolution 425: "... 'calls' on Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanon".
- Resolution 427: "... 'calls' on Israel to complete its withdrawal from Lebanon.
- Resolution 444: "... 'deplores' Israel's lack of cooperation with UN peacekeeping forces".
- Resolution 446: "... 'determines' that Israeli settlements are a 'serious obstruction' to peace and calls on Israel to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention".
- Resolution 450: "... 'calls' on Israel to stop attacking Lebanon".
- Resolution 452: "... 'calls' on Israel to cease building settlements in occupied territories".
- Resolution 465: "... 'deplores' Israel's settlements and asks all member states not to assist Israel's settlements program".
- Resolution 467: "... 'strongly deplores' Israel's military intervention in Lebanon".
- Resolution 468: "... 'calls' on Israel to rescind illegal expulsions of two Palestinian mayors and a judge and to facilitate their return".
- Resolution 469: "... 'strongly deplores' Israel's failure to observe the council's order not to deport Palestinians".
- Resolution 471: "... 'expresses deep concern' at Israel's failure to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention".
- Resolution 476: "... 'reiterates' that Israel's claim to Jerusalem are 'null and void'".
- Resolution 478: "... 'censures (Israel) in the strongest terms' for its claim to Jerusalem in its 'Basic Law'".
- Resolution 484: "... 'declares it imperative' that Israel re-admit two deported Palestinian mayors".
- Resolution 487: "... 'strongly condemns' Israel for its attack on Iraq's nuclear facility".
- Resolution 497: "... 'decides' that Israel's annexation of Syria's Golan Heights is 'null and void' and demands that Israel rescinds its decision forthwith".
- Resolution 498: "... 'calls' on Israel to withdraw from Lebanon".
- Resolution 501: "... 'calls' on Israel to stop attacks against Lebanon and withdraw its troops".
- Resolution 509: "... 'demands' that Israel withdraw its forces forthwith and unconditionally from Lebanon".
- Resolution 515: "... 'demands' that Israel lift its siege of Beirut and allow food supplies to be brought in".
- Resolution 517: "... 'censures' Israel for failing to obey UN resolutions and demands that Israel withdraw its forces from Lebanon".
- Resolution 518: "... 'demands' that Israel cooperate fully with UN forces in Lebanon".
- Resolution 520: "... 'condemns' Israel's attack into West Beirut".
- Resolution 573: "... 'condemns' Israel 'vigorously' for bombing Tunisia in attack on PLO headquarters.
- Resolution 587: "... 'takes note' of previous calls on Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanon and urges all parties to withdraw".
- Resolution 592: "... 'strongly deplores' the killing of Palestinian students at Bir Zeit University by Israeli troops".
- Resolution 605: "... 'strongly deplores' Israel's policies and practices denying the human rights of Palestinians.
- Resolution 607: "... 'calls' on Israel not to deport Palestinians and strongly requests it to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention.
- Resolution 608: "... 'deeply regrets' that Israel has defied the United Nations and deported Palestinian civilians".
- Resolution 636: "... 'deeply regrets' Israeli deportation of Palestinian civilians.
- Resolution 641: "... 'deplores' Israel's continuing deportation of Palestinians.
- Resolution 672: "... 'condemns' Israel for violence against Palestinians at the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount.
- Resolution 673: "... 'deplores' Israel's refusal to cooperate with the United Nations.
- Resolution 681: "... 'deplores' Israel's resumption of the deportation of Palestinians.
- Resolution 694: "... 'deplores' Israel's deportation of Palestinians and calls on it to ensure their safe and immediate return.
- Resolution 726: "... 'strongly condemns' Israel's deportation of Palestinians.
- Resolution 799: ". . . 'strongly condemns' Israel's deportation of 413 Palestinians and calls for their immediate return.
Somehow George seems to forget his run up to the war. I remember his mushroom shaped cloud reference, I remember the 'yellow cake' purchase from Niger, and the repeated Weapons of Mass Destruction reasons for going to war. George and his administration even told us how many pounds and liters of chemical weapons Saddam had. Of course all those numbers were wrong, because the real number was zero.
The President wants it both ways. He and his cohorts are running around the country (on our dime) trying to convince us that this war in Iraq is not lost, and that Iraq is not falling into a civil war. Today, to back up the President, there were administration people on TV and radio programs, who (also on our dime) just came back from Iraq. They were telling whoever would listen, that things are really all hunky-dory over there. While at the same time news people are giving reports that tell of large sections of Baghdad being controlled by teenagers carrying machine guns.
I guess the Bush people and the news people must travel in different circles over there.
George Bush has a hard sell on this war. George's whole Presidency rests on this war. George has made the claim repeatedly that he is the "War President," and so you know he does not want to be remembered as the President who lost the war.
So, in the next few weeks all stops will be taken out, and the truth will be set aside so that the American people can be convinced any way it takes that we can win this one. George is on the road to Victory, even if his troops aren't.