Final Thrashing Efforts

"Opinion"

11/21/2005

Paul Munnis

There are major problems with Dick Chaney’s position concerning claims that the Bush Administration manipulated intelligence where the invasion of Iraq is concerned.

The first is the Downing Street memos which provide factual accounting from a partner government to the Iraqi invasion about what was driving the thinking and the actions inside of the Bush Administration. The memos say flatly that the intelligence was being rearranged to justify invasion.

Then there are the witnesses from the Bush Administration who were there in various capacities, for example a defense director responsible for managing terrorism. They have testified to the 911 Commission that there was a fixed mind-set as regards the invasion of Iraq and that intelligence was ignored or brushed aside.

Then there is the testimony of Scott Ritter, an American inspector for the UN who made it abundantly clear that no WMD existed and was muzzled in the media by the Bush Administration.

Then there was the UN inspection teams both of those looking for nuclear and biohazard munitions. They repeatedly verified the absence of such weapons.

Then there are the falsified reports of Nigerian yellow-cake that resulted in the outing of Valerie Plume as a CIA field operative.

Then there are the recent reports from the LA Times on working an agent code named ‘Curveball.’

Then there were the exaggerated reports made by Colin Powell to the UN on claims of Iraqi and al Queda joint terrorist training camps located in Iraq.

Then there were claims of mobile biological trailers plus claims of hidden tunnels in Iraq that were holding all of these banned munitions.

Did we mention the claims about drones that could dump munitions on America from offshore?

Then there is the notion that if this is all true then Dick Chaney and G.W. Bush could be tried as war criminals, so they must refute these claims otherwise it’s a predicate to prosecution. The accusations could then be complimented with further accusations of violations of International Law in the conduct of the Iraqi War and the whole nine yards will be thrashed out in the World-Court in the same docket that Pinochet and Milosovich were tried for their war crimes.

Mr. Chaney then has good reason to speak out in denial.

Did we mention that every day that Bush and Chaney can keep American boots on the ground in Iraq the stock that they hold in Halliburton grows more and more valuable as the dividends compound?

Dick Chaney and G.W. Bush have met their match in Senator Murtha who is not a fool and who is calling it like it is: no spin, no fabrications, no beating around the bush. His simple honesty and straight forward logic stands in stark contrast to that of the Bush Administration and their five year record of governance and three year record of Iraqi War mismanagement. He is using the truth as he best understands it to make his case for ending the war in Iraq. Frankly Sen. Murtha has credibility.

This issue will have out. It will be heard and the evidence will be examined. Senator Murtha or not, the truth will become known in detail and sooner rather than later.

My concerns are now shifting away from the Administration and over to the American people. Sure, we need to expose the Bush Administration and to show thes failures. We need to control the Congress so that it doesn’t destroy our government, economy, and national strength. But, there are sub-groups involved too, Americans one and all: American Nationalists, GOP Party faithful, GOP displaced members, Independents, Greens, Libertarians, Democrats, and while are all in one accord about ousting the Bush/Chaney machine for various reasons we must concern ourselves about how we can assure all that they will be fairly represented in Washington after the Bush people fall. This guarantee is fundemental to a resumption of governing our American nation.

One of the travesties of the GOP domination of government is the destruction of representation of the people, the citizens of America, in Washington. In transition then we must assure them that their government will act bi-partisan and once again govern us as a nation rather than as a Party. Democrats do not control that call. It is in the hands of Congress who will appoint a replacement pair for Bush/Chaney. The Congress is GOP controlled which is not encouraging.

It is important to understand that Dick Chaney’s is also trying to convince his own Party not to dump him and W. This argument goes way beyond Democrats and Senator Murtha. Bush and Chaney are now severe political liabilities for the next three years. They have reduced the Party in size and scope and are threatening to destroy the GOP in the 2006 elections and they are a liability for what remains of the GOP Party. Their international clout is now almost nil. This 2006 election they can’t even effectively campaign for their Party because they are not welcome across much of America and can only appear in very safe environments where they do not have to face the public, and where their message is tired, dated, and flawed.

Inside the GOP, right now, there is talk about dumping these two liabilities. To compound the GOP election problems Democrats are now surfacing their own election campaign programs and they are looking pretty darn solid compared to the five years of Bush/Chaney failures.

So knowing how to listen to Chaney and W. is important, we are hearing the cries of drowning men cursing those who will not save them. But we did not injure them, they are injured by their own actions.

No American likes to see its government go down like this and we are now asking ourselves if we will be better off once Bush/Chaney are gone? Can we suffer our losses and begin meaningful political reconstruction? There are few people in Iraq that will miss the Bush Administration. Still we ask these questions because somebody will be appointed to replace them. We need to ponder whether the devil that we don’t yet know is worse than the devils that we do know but who have grown impotent and ineffective. Should we opt to keep Bush/Chaney in a speciman bottle as impotent figure heads until 2009 or should we opt for the unknown? What if even worse ultra right wingers are put into office replacing Bush/Chaney and with a mission to legislatively destroy the rest of our government with their remaining time before the 2006 election?  Even if Centrists replace Bush/Chaney and we keep Bush/Chaney around, won’t they just veto all legislation coming from a new Congress? How would the replacements behave? The questions come fast and the answers do not follow.

It is important to understand that Democrats alone are not destroying Bush. Karl Rove is accountable for much of the GOP’s problems and he is doing it with his strategy of diviseness. He has unleashed diviseness within his own Party and now they are cannibalizing their own Party membership and eating their children as a result.

These are all questions for Democrats to think about and to express themselves on. Democrats now must move ahead of events in Washington and think about what comes next. Nobody ever said Democracy was easy.