5 years after illegal war : Bush hails strategic victory

international | crime and justice | other press

Wednesday March 19, 2008 20:35

by shapeshiftin reptile - (iosaf)

(in his "global war on terror")

"............Five years into this battle, there is an understandable debate over whether the war was worth fighting … whether the fight is worth winning … and whether we can win it. The answers are clear to me: Removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision – and this is a fight America can and must win… Over the past five years, we have seen moments of triumph and moments of tragedy. We have watched in admiration as 12 million Iraqis defied the terrorists, went to the polls, and chose their leaders in free elections. ........"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/19_03_08_bus...h.pdf

as with the Aznar interview on BBC 4 which is next on the otherpress section in this extraordinary series reporting on the depths of depraved & perverted hypocrisy shown by those world leaders who without legal or moral reason launched a war of agression five years ago - I recommend you fortify your senses with something strong. Industrial strength Ketamine might not be everyone's choice. Drink some robust whiskey instead - or emtpy your local herbal provider of camomile tea & distill it, or prepare yourself before reading these words with a novena of prayers & rogation of your choice. This is really serious stuff. One million people are dead. 600,000 of them are thought to be children. Western societies feel more at threat from foreign terrorism than ever before. The world economy has not as in previous decades comfortably made the shift to war production.

".........A little over a year ago, the fight in Iraq was faltering. Extremist elements were succeeding in their efforts to plunge Iraq into chaos… My administration understood that America could not retreat in the face of terror. We knew that if we did not act, the violence that had been consuming Iraq would have worsened, spread, and could eventually have reached genocidal levels.

Baghdad could have disintegrated into a contagion of killing, and Iraq could have descended into full-blown sectarian warfare. So we reviewed our strategy – and changed course in Iraq. We sent reinforcements into the country in a dramatic policy shift that has become known as "the surge."…

The surge has done more than turn the situation in Iraq around – it has opened the door to a major strategic victory in the broader war on terror. For the terrorists, Iraq was supposed to be the place where al-Qaida rallied Arab masses to drive America out. Instead, Iraq has become the place where Arabs joined with Americans to drive al-Qaida out. In Iraq, we are witnessing the first large-scale Arab uprising against Osama bin Laden, his grim ideology, and his terror network. And the significance of this development cannot be overstated…

The challenge in the period ahead is to consolidate the gains we have made and seal the extremists' defeat. We have learned through hard experience what happens when we pull our forces back too fast – the terrorists and extremists step in … fill the vacuum … establish safe havens … and use them to spread chaos and carnage. …

The successes we are seeing in Iraq are undeniable – yet some in Washington still call for retreat. War critics can no longer credibly argue that we are losing in Iraq – so now they argue the war costs too much. In recent months we have heard exaggerated estimates of the costs of this war.

No one would argue that this war has not come at a high cost in lives and treasure – but those costs are necessary when we consider the cost of a strategic victory for our enemies in Iraq.

If we were to allow our enemies to prevail in Iraq, the violence that is now declining would accelerate – and Iraq could descend into chaos. Al-Qaida would regain its lost sanctuaries and establish new ones – fomenting violence and terror that could spread beyond Iraq's borders, with serious consequences to the world economy.........."

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related links for the hard :-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/19/georgebush.usa
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7305023.stm

the complete text of George W. Bush speaking to the Pentagon March 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/19_03_08_bus...h.pdf

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5 years after illegal war : Cheney sees "huge accomplishment & major success"

Wed Mar 19, 2008 21:07

".....Martha Raddatz, chief White House correspondent for ABC News, sat down with Mr. Cheney in Oman, one of several stops on a Middle East tour that includes Iraq, Israel, the West Bank, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. After Ms. Raddatz asked about the economy — which he said was in “a rough patch,” not a recession — the subject turned to the deep unpopularity of the Iraq war. Here’s a transcript of the exchange, released by the network:

Raddatz: Two-third of Americans say it’s not worth fighting.

Cheney: So?

Raddatz: So? You don’t care what the American people think?

Cheney: No. I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls. There has, in fact, been fundamental change and transformation and improvement for the better. That’s a huge accomplishment.
Dick Cheney's ("former")company Halliburton opened its global HQ from Texas to Dubai since the war the presidency he shared with GW Bush was begun illegally. Of all the criminals this series of other press reports no the 5th anniversary of the declaration of war, he is the one whose made direct financial gain attracted the most scrutiny. The investment portfolios of all the war criminals are centered on oil exploration & military contractor firms, and though they have each had to satisfy certain regulations governing the equivalence of "insider trading" for personal profit, their criminal activity has benefited the wealth of their friends & former associates to the tune of at least one trillion dollars thus far, estimates of the total cost of the war to the US taxpayer vary between 2 and 4 trillion dollars but leaving estimates aside, the Pentagon admits the war has cost 600billion dollars in five years. The Irish governmental budget averages one twenty-third of a trillion dollars.

ABC news has posted a video of the interview which may be seen here
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Vote2008/story?id=4479462&page=1

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previous articles in this other press off-site series :-

5 years after illegal war : Bush hails strategic victory ( speech at Pentagon)
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/86762

5 years after an illegal war - Aznar says Iraq is postive. (english interview to BBC 4)
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/86751

Abu Ghraib : "Rumsfeld Knew" - Lynndie England interview (english translation of interview with Stern of one of the less than a hundred individuals who went to prison for the war)
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/86750

Brass Necks

by jeff

Wed Mar 19, 2008 22:04

Thats what poiticians usually wear. That's why they're politicians. See You En Teas.

& so it is now 6 years of war. in the last week 264 died for a Noble & Splendid cause.

by -

Thu Mar 20, 2008 07:11

Yesterday Wednesday 19th March 2008: 45 died in Iraq.

Baghdad: gunmen kill father and son, owners of currency exchange office, Karrada; car bomb kills policeman, Karrada; bomb kills taxi driver; 7 bodies.
Diyala province
Balad Ruz: suicide bomber kills 6 in market.
Kirkuk province
Hawija: 3 policemen killed by US forces.
Salahuddin province
Tikrit: 1 neighbourhood watch shot dead.
Babil province
Hilla: roadside bomb kills 2; another roadside bomb kills 2 policemen.
Basra: gunmen kill 17 border guards; gunmen kill policeman.
Karbala: 2 bodies.

That was up on Tuesday when only 28 died. Monday was pretty shit, 92 died. Sunday 26, last Saturday 19, Friday 15 & Thursday 39. That's a total of 264 in the last week of the 5th year of war.
By now it appears only Bush, Cheney & Aznar think it was worth it, the week has been notable in that no other of the warmongers & criminals has spoken of what they did. There has been not a peep from Blair or Berlusconi. No word from Rumsfeld on why the Iraqis aren't dancing in the streets or from Chalabi explaining to us how his lies have left his country with less reliable running water and electricity than in the time of Saddam. The "Irish Times" long ago did its turnaround and its readers today will think nothing strange about it wringing its hands at the blood. 5 years ago only one Government minister to his credit expressed any doubt about the coalition of the willing going to war, and that was Michael Mc Dowell. Strange to think. isn't it? In one week alone 264 names with bodies attached and families and mothers and fathers and futures wiped out so the world can be a safer place and we all sleep better at night knowing this is noble, this is what our enlightenment means, this vindicates Kevin Myers and justifies every cent and penny he earns, this is the moral high horse we have mounted that allows us the West to cast judgement on the world.

This is why any fifteen year old should live.

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5 years after illegal war : Bush hails strategic victory

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