{"article":{"id":66080,"heading":"WMD lies no surprise","author":"C\/O Diogenes","created":"2003-06-21 19:18:58","modified":"2013-11-11 00:23:15","last_modified":"Mon, 11 Nov 2013 07:23:15","article":"<br><br>  <br>  <br> ------------------------------------------------------------------------Posted on Fri, Jun. 20, 2003 <br><br> WMD lies no surprise <br>  <br> By Crispin Sartwell <br><br> If you seriously believed the Bush administration that Iraq posed an immediate threat because of its weapons programs, or that Saddam was intimately connected with al-Qaeda, you richly deserved your deception. <br><br> And if you lived through any part of the 20th century and didn't learn that political power, and in particular the American presidency, is shrouded in lies - uses lies as a basic strategy for governance - then you really are a chump. <br><br> You've got to understand, first of all, that \"intelligence\" works both ways: Information drives policy, and policy drives information. If the CIA is charged with justifying a certain policy, its agents will at least give it a shot. After all, they're loyal Americans. <br><br> But the case was luridly bad from the get-go, riddled with holes that were obvious to anyone who was watching. We kept reaching for crudely forged documents and aluminum tubes. When Secretary of State Colin Powell got up in front of the United Nations to make the case that Saddam was connected to Osama bin Laden, he used as his main point the existence of an al-Qaeda training camp in Iraq. The camp was in the Kurdish autonomous zone, controlled not by Saddam but by the people to whom we had allied ourselves. That would have justified bombing D.C. - but not Baghdad. <br><br> Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix revealed in a recent interview with the Guardian that he was pressured to exaggerate and distort the result of inspections, and that he believes he was the victim of a Pentagon disinformation campaign to impugn, among other things, his heterosexuality. But the administration obviously pressured everyone involved to come up with claims it could use to justify conquest and obviously used anything that would bolster its case, no matter how obviously ridiculous. <br><br> The weapons-of-mass-destruction thing would have made the case for attacking around a dozen countries at least before it would have justified attacking Iraq. <br><br> The truth is, we wanted to flex our muscles, wanted to kill somebody, thirsted for conquest. That's the reason the administration ladled up the slop, and that's the reason so many Americans purported to believe it or decided not to worry too much about the case. <br><br> Clearly, the manipulation of public opinion was central to the administration's strategy for war, and clearly, it garnered and continues to enjoy the support of the American people. And in our system - in which human lives are nothing compared to polling numbers - the decision to go couldn't have been made in any atmosphere of opinion that was much different. <br><br> So for God's sake, please don't pretend now to feel betrayed or anguished by sudden doubt. Your self-deception is as much to blame as the administration's lies. <br>  <br> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ <br>  <br> Crispin Sartwell teaches philosophy at the Maryland Institute College of Art.  <br><br> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ <br>  <br> &copy; 2003 Philadelphia Inquirer and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. <br>  <br> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.philly.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">http:\/\/www.philly.com<\/a>  <br><br> \n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"If you seriously believed the Bush administration that Iraq posed an immediate threat because of its weapons programs, or that Saddam was intimately connected with al-Qaeda, you richly deserved your deception.","numcomment":22,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2003\/06\/66080.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":66082,"heading":"The People who...","article":"...believed the Bush Junta's lies really fall into 3 Groups:\r\n\r\nSuckers\r\n\r\nSuckers\r\n\r\nSuckers.\r\n\r\nBUSH LIED, PEOPLE DIED. It really is that simple.","author":"Diogenes","parent_id":66080,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-21 19:22:01","modified":"2003-06-21 19:22:01","fileurl":""},{"id":66088,"heading":"WMD","article":"And if they should find WMD's there, its because they were planted there.  They either aren't there at all are they were planted there.  That's the only two possibilities.","author":"Ryan","parent_id":66080,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-21 19:48:59","modified":"2003-06-21 19:48:59","fileurl":""},{"id":66104,"heading":"You got it Ryan...","article":"...despite your lame attempt at parody you have by pure random chance swerved into the truth.\r\n\r\nSo, of course you are one of the Suckers.","author":"Diogenes","parent_id":66080,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-21 21:22:28","modified":"2003-06-21 21:22:28","fileurl":""},{"id":66121,"heading":"Dio is right","article":"Ryan, when Dio is right he's right.\r\n\r\nIn fact, Dio and a few others around here are privy to intel that proves that ALL the WMD that everyone, including Dio, accept as having been in Iraq for certain, magically disappeared over the years.\r\n\r\nYou see, while Dio and his herd are quick to condemn us for allowing Iraq to develop WMD in the 80's and while they openly acknowledge that these WMD existed throughout the 90's, they have proof that, while Sadam put up with sanctions and the inevitable loss of power that the war brought, he was able to virtually make all WMD disappear AND hide that disappearance from the world. In fact, he went to extraordinary lengths to hide this magic act from the inspectors who were there to monitor the destruction of WMD.\r\n\r\nListen to Dio. He knows what he's talking about. There couldn't have been any WMD BUT we're still bastards for allowing WMD to be there in the first place.\r\nI know it seems like crazy talk and circular logic but you just gotta listen to Dio.\r\n\r\nThe one thing that Dio tells me absolutely did NOT happen to these magic WMD is that they were given to other &quot;entities&quot; or moved to another peace-loving arab &quot;state&quot;.\r\n\r\nWhen Dio says he will not accept something than that's it man. And Dio says these WMD NEVER existed. \r\n\r\nExcept when they existed to the point that we were bastards for letting them exist,. \r\n\r\nOr something like that.","author":"fresca","parent_id":66080,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-21 23:10:05","modified":"2003-06-21 23:10:05","fileurl":""},{"id":66127,"heading":"ONLY Dio is right.","article":"Everything Dio says is the absolute truth.\r\n\r\nEverything everyone else says is totally false.\r\n\r\nLet me be the first to nominate Dio for the position of Grand High Righteous Dude and Speaker of All That's Goodly, E Pluribus Unum, Peace Be Upon Him, and Word Up (GHRDSATGEPUPBUHWU).\r\n\r\nThis post was created for him and for him alone, since  Dio is the only human in all of history, past or future, is fit to bear the title of GHRDSATGEPUPBUHWU.  It doesn't pay too much, since we're on a tight budget, but it does come with a year's subscription to People Magazine and a T-Shirt with the &quot;All-Knowing Brain&quot; logo of the office on it.\r\n\r\nO Grand High Righteous Dude, confer upon us unworthy mortals the singular honor of accepting this post, and rain down upon us your words of really smart wisdom and stuff.\r\n\r\nWord up.","author":"daveman","parent_id":66080,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-21 23:36:09","modified":"2003-06-21 23:36:09","fileurl":""},{"id":66148,"heading":"Eric = Daveman","article":"hee hee hee\r\n","author":"Erics IP is 68.212.64.23","parent_id":66080,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-22 00:23:54","modified":"2003-06-22 00:23:54","fileurl":""},{"id":66153,"heading":"You keep getting that wrong.","article":"We're in the same state.\r\n\r\nOh, and we both think you're an idiot.\r\n\r\n","author":"daveman","parent_id":66080,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-22 00:45:54","modified":"2003-06-22 00:45:54","fileurl":""},{"id":66155,"heading":"I am greatly amused","article":"That I should inspire such vitriol is like music to my ears. Thanks for the morale boost guys.\r\n\r\nOf course despite your parodies I have never claimed to have all the answers. All I have ever claimed is that by simple deduction one can conclude from the evidence available in the public domain that BUSH LIED.\r\n\r\nI don't know why you guys simply cannot wrap your mind around that one fact.\r\n\r\nIs it too much of a blow to your ego to admit you were taken in?\r\n\r\nWhatever.\r\n\r\nBUSH LIED, PEOPLE DIED. It really is that simple.","author":"Diogenes","parent_id":66080,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-22 01:00:15","modified":"2003-06-22 01:00:15","fileurl":""},{"id":66157,"heading":"BUSH LIED, PEOPLE DIED.&quot;","article":"You really are that simple.\r\n\r\nI'm gonna get me a tag line!\r\n\r\nHow about:  DIO LIED, NOBODY WAS SURPRISED.\r\n\r\nI know, the rhyme scheme is a little off.  I'll keep working on it.","author":"daveman","parent_id":66080,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-22 01:05:23","modified":"2003-06-22 01:05:23","fileurl":""},{"id":66162,"heading":"Keep scheming...","article":"...but don't expect it to stick. I'm smarter than you are.\r\n\r\nNa, na, na, na, na!","author":"Diogenes","parent_id":66080,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-22 01:28:19","modified":"2003-06-22 01:28:19","fileurl":""},{"id":66163,"heading":"Swimming","article":"In a pool of dark evil.  The shadows close upon the unaware.\r\nThe enemy is left to attempts of trivialization in the tide of leaking\r\ninformation from the failing firewalls of the media.  \r\nThis is something that has never been so evident as today the assess\r\nto information.  One of those unforeseen blowbacks of human endeavor.\r\nWe will not be accepting the yoke of your world of terror.\r\nYour side has shed all of it's creditability.  Not good for a growing discontent.  The Shape of Things to Come.","author":"Sheepdog","parent_id":66080,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-22 01:29:31","modified":"2003-06-22 01:29:31","fileurl":""},{"id":66164,"heading":"Well said my friend.","article":"&quot;Opposition to Evil is Obedience to G-d.&quot;\r\n\r\nNever, ever, ever, give up.\r\n\r\n\r\n&quot;The truth is cruel, but it can be loved, and it sets free those who have loved it.&quot;\r\n - - George Santayana","author":"Diogenes","parent_id":66080,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-22 01:37:12","modified":"2003-06-22 01:37:12","fileurl":""},{"id":66168,"heading":"Got it!","article":"DIO LIED, HIS BRAIN IS FRIED!\r\n\r\nO Grand High Righteous Dude, if you were any more full of yourself, you'd collapse into a singularity.","author":"daveman","parent_id":66080,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-22 01:55:15","modified":"2003-06-22 01:55:15","fileurl":""},{"id":66172,"heading":"No thank you...","article":"...I have no wish to visit that lightless pit which is thine Soul.","author":"Diogenes","parent_id":66080,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-22 02:25:35","modified":"2003-06-22 02:25:35","fileurl":""},{"id":66232,"heading":"Diogenes","article":"That was no parody.  I completely agree with you.","author":"Ryan","parent_id":66080,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-22 17:07:46","modified":"2003-06-22 17:07:46","fileurl":""},{"id":66421,"heading":"&quot;I have never claimed to have all the answers.&quot;","article":"Suuure.\r\n\r\nDoes this ring a bell?\r\n\r\n&quot;You are here because you are paid to be here or you are a psychotic. \r\n\r\nThere is no third option.&quot;\r\n\r\nSounds like all the answers to me, Grand High Righteous Dude.\r\n\r\nYou say so yourself:  there is no third option.\r\n\r\nYour arrogance is astounding...as well as totally unwarranted.  \r\n\r\nWhy do you have so much trouble accepting the fact that people don't agree with you because they want to, not because they're paid to, or because they're mentally ill?  What are you afraid of, Dio?  Is. perhaps, accepting the fact you're wrong such a blow to your ego?  I expect so...a blow to an ego the size of yours would be fatal.\r\n\r\nSo what say you just accept the nomination as Grand High Righteous Dude.  You know you want to.  After all, your ego is nearly as large as your arrogance.","author":"daveman","parent_id":66080,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-23 11:13:32","modified":"2003-06-23 11:13:32","fileurl":""},{"id":66440,"heading":"daveman=fresca=bushadmirer=jewboy","article":"that you &quot;daveman &quot; are a mole is logically arguable:\r\n\r\nwho else would spam indy 24\/7 out of his own pocket\r\nunless it's bill gates' deranged son and how many deranged sons does bill gates have spamming indy 24\/7 and all on la.indy at the same time?\r\n\r\n2 and 2 ain't always five,assmole.\r\nfuck off.","author":"daveman the mole","parent_id":66080,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-23 12:59:30","modified":"2003-06-23 12:59:30","fileurl":""},{"id":66684,"heading":"gutless coward","article":"And the opinion of a gutless coward is supposed to mean something to me because...?\r\n\r\nI like it here.  I like to make fun of you people.  It's more fun being in here with all the conspidiots, than someplace where everyone is all in agreement.\r\n\r\nYour constant futile attempts to give your cause some credence by painting me as a paid shill are laughable and pathetic.  Your arrogance that says your opinions are the only ones possible, and all others are government funded PSYOPS, can only be due to sheer stupid pig-headedness.\r\n\r\nYou guys are a hoot.","author":"daveman","parent_id":66080,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-24 22:06:45","modified":"2003-06-24 22:06:45","fileurl":""},{"id":66689,"heading":"behind the armor plated desk","article":"the airman calls others cowards.  Can we see your 201 file and the numerous metals and citations on it, hero?","author":"former leg (US Army Infantry)","parent_id":66080,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-24 22:39:20","modified":"2003-06-24 22:39:20","fileurl":""},{"id":66693,"heading":"ex-grunt","article":"I guess you just don't know that in the Air Force, we don't have 201 files.  But your ignorance is excusable.\r\n\r\nAnd it's &quot;medals&quot;, not &quot;metals&quot;...of which I have my share, and then some.\r\n\r\nMy use of the term &quot;coward&quot; is in reference to the unnamed poster's refusal to pick a handle and stick with it.  \r\n\r\nI feel that anyone who will not take credit for his\/her opinions is a coward.\r\n\r\nAnd anyone who denigrates another's service ain't so tough, either.","author":"daveman","parent_id":66080,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-24 22:49:56","modified":"2003-06-24 22:49:56","fileurl":""},{"id":66724,"heading":"And another thing","article":"I've never been in combat or in a combat zone, but I did get some MEDALS for being a good mechanic.\r\nShit, i've never slept out in the field (leave my wife out of this) during my entire military service.\r\nI've never killed an enemy soldier or even fired a weapon in anger.\r\nI do pretty good though on the air farce PT test.\r\nI get a choice of doing a 3 mile walk\r\nor\r\na 5 mile bike ride.\r\nCuz when your in the shit\r\nYou always have that choice.","author":"daveman","parent_id":66080,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-25 05:53:45","modified":"2003-06-25 05:53:45","fileurl":""},{"id":66735,"heading":"gutless coward, AKA grunt","article":"Gosh, your ignorance is boundless.\r\n\r\nI will refrain from making the obvious references to the infantry here, because I believe they serve a noble purpose, and I thank them for it.\r\n\r\nBut you heaping scorn on the service of others shows your small-mindedness.","author":"daveman","parent_id":66080,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-25 07:51:34","modified":"2003-06-25 07:51:34","fileurl":""}]}