Bush-Whacking….
Friday, May 30th, 2008
In the last week, two major books have hit the scene—both of them taking a variation on the same theme: that President Bush led us into a war with Iraq that wasn’t necessary…
This is a hugely hot and controversial topic—and anyone who broaches it is likely to be targeted an an unpatriotic, military-hating appeaser.
But, before you run off to start gathering feathers and boiling the tar bath for me— remember this:
There’s a HUGE difference between talking about the ACTIONS of a President, and criticizing the men and women who went and did what they were told to do.
This is not an anti-military screed.
Our soldiers did exactly what they should be doing. Following orders and doing it bravely— sometimes at the loss of limb or life.
This discussion is about WHY they were given their orders.
Former presidential press secretary Scott McClellan is taking the most flak at the moment for his book, “What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception.”
He has many harsh things to say about the president on a variety of topics.
Among his claims; the Iraq war “was unnecessary”, and was “a serious strategic blunder.”
He also alleges the President sold the war to the American people in a manner “that was less than candid and honest.”
He believes we in the media failed to do our jobs in providing proper checks and balances in the run-up to the war.
Despite the firestorm its created, McClellan’s book seems tame compared to that of former prosecutor and author Vincent Bugliosi.
The man who gained national fame as the prosecutor of Charles Manson back in the 70’s— believes the president ought to be tried for war crimes.
In his book, “The Prosecution of George W. Bush For Murder,” Bugliosi writes “Mr. Bush and his administration knowingly lied to Congress and to the American public.”
He claims the administration deliberately edited and re-wrote a classified National Intelligence Estimate from the CIA that showed Saddam Hussein was no threat into a report that purported to show Hussein had weapons of Mass Destruction.
Like the former prosecutor he was, Bugliosi lays out his case as if he were in a court of law—piling up the evidence as he sees it.
What strikes me as interesting is the timing of these two books—along with their similar assertions.
A rabid liberal, and a dire-hard conservative with inside information both came up with similar conclusions.
As we approach the end of the Bush administration are we going to see more of these kinds of allegations — or is this just a tawdry manipulation of the facts for political purposes by the so-called liberal media?
These are questions which need to be discussed and debated.
As regular readers of this blog know—we’ve always maintained an “open forum” policy—respecting and publishing views from all sides of an issue.
However, most of the 15,000 or so folks who’ve read this blog prefer just to look and not comment.
But, perhaps—in this case especially—you should do more than just read.
TALK BACK.
We’ll put your views front and center.
—Steve
Link to the video and story Steve covered today on NBC-17
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