Bush Administration made 935 false statements on Iraq

[Scrum]

Interrogator: Invasion Surprised Saddam, Tells 60 Minutes Former Dictator Bragged About Eluding Capture - CBS News

Saddam Hussein initially didn't think the U.S. would invade Iraq to destroy weapons of mass destruction, so he kept the fact that he had none a secret to prevent an Iranian invasion he believed could happen. The Iraqi dictator revealed this thinking to George Piro, the FBI agent assigned to interrogate him after his capture.

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Saddam still wouldn't admit he had no weapons of mass destruction, even when it was obvious there would be military action against him because of the perception he did. Because, says Piro, "For him, it was critical that he was seen as still the strong, defiant Saddam. He thought that [faking having the weapons] would prevent the Iranians from reinvading Iraq," he tells Pelley.

[RMNIXON]

Originally Posted by DosEquis

To me false statement would be in a different category than a lie. I would imagine the critieria was taking a previous statement that was used to justify invading.. that ended up being false after we arrived there.

Things like saddam has stockpiles of wmd and as it turns out...he didn't.

If you ask me this whole thing was completely fucking stupid from day 1, spanning multiple administrations, based on plans from these people with an ideology that we need militarism to control certain regions of the world for our 'national interests'.

I think that is a very fair and honest opinion.

I also think this so-called study was neither. That was my only point. I was not trying to defend the war or any mistakes in intelligence building up to that point, and I think it is safe to say we have argued those issues 10 times over on the board already.

[RMNIXON]

Originally Posted by Scrum

No amount to "but the democrats did this too!" erases the misleading statements and the fact that these guys were dead wrong. Do we not even hold our leaders responsible for being wrong anymore?

That would also make Roosevelt responsible for Pearl Harbor, and the false belief that the Nazi's had a major program to develop and atomic bomb. They did not and we brought that device into this world under limited and misleading intelligence. In fact the Nazi's were doing less than what Iran is doing right now!

I won't wait for the revision in the history books.

The problem is the people who look at motives as proof of something and then try to pack as much circumstantial evidence as they can into the foregone conclusion and ignor everything else. Not a good way to get to the objective truth of any matter. The Bush Whitehouse may have been very much interetsed in an invasion of Iraq, and would certainly have an interest in intelligence to justify such and act. Hey, the above mentioned Roosevelt wanted us in WWII prior to any attack on the United States! But that is not proof of lies and deliberate manipulations. You are free to believe whatever you wish. It does not make it factual anymore than some of the suggestions about the Clintons and their motives in matters where no evidence exists.