Last night Rachel pointed out that this year marks the tenth anniversary of President George W. Bush's State of the Union address containing the now infamous 16 words that turned out to be a very consequential lie:
“The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa .”
Included in a collection of web materials associated with Rachel's upcoming documentary "Hubris: The Selling of the Iraq War," is a longer cut of that 2003 State of the Union address. It's a powerful reminder of how thick the Bush administration laid it on to rally the nation to war in Iraq:
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oh my god. are we still blaming bush for everything? so bush lied and thats bad, but never a word on Obama's lies? come on. wake up. didn't obama say he was going to be the most transparent, and that debt was was unpatriotic and that nothing he did would add a dime to the deficit. all lies. the list goes on and on.
my fav.... "i'm not going to take your guns"
Bush lied thousands died. Yes that is as you say "bad".
Oh boy another Fox news viewer showing how little he knows about everything. Heres a clue show me where Obama has told law enforcement to take guns away from citizens, you can't because its a lie. To bad for you, Fox news viewers know less then people who don't watch news and we get proof.
Yes, captainkid, it is way past time that we started blaming Obama for Bush's lies and Bush's wars that Obama ended. I mean, seriously, are we still blaming Hoover for the crash of 1929? When are we going to stop glossing over Obama's failed economic policies that led to the first Great Depression. In fact, we shouldn't look at or study history at all. We should just obsess over Obama 24/7, like they do on Fox.
ahhh, does bengazi ring a bell. the video lie. Obama lies and ambasadors die. as far a guns. you have to be drinking massive coolaid to think this patalogical liar does not want to take guns away. you really expect people to believe the "shot gun" pic. come on.
as far as the great dep. I have a degree in econ. i will fore warn you.
what is the oppsesion with fox news? fox didn't put more people of food stamps then any time in the programs history. the labor market is a disaster and has been since 08. to be fair a lot of that has to do with the policyies of clinton and bush. I invite you to read the community reinvestment act as well as the repeal of glass seagle. (my spelling is bad)
I heard on good authority (Fox News) that Obama caused that nice lady to trick her husband into eating some "tainted" apples. For shame.
Hundreds of thousands of people die in Iraq because Bush lied and captainkid thinks Benghazi is somehow a justification so we should just forget about Iraq. Comparing Iraq with Benghazi is a false equivalency besides preposterous.
captainkid28
oh my god. are we still blaming bush for everything?
Capt. you just wrote that in #1 and you turn right around and blame Clinton in # 1.4. Typical consertive troll, talking outcher a$$.
wait explain to me how liberating a nation from a cruel dictator and refusing to send help to fellow americans is equivilant? stop drinking kool-aid.
Is the country liberated? Refusing to send help? Didn't you hear that as soon as The President heard about the incident he sent a detachment of Marines and 3 warships or were you busy drinking the Fox Pseudo-News Kool-Aid.
well thats funny because
He isn't taking your guns. You should go back to Faux News where you will "appear" smart. 90+% of Americans want gun controls. CONTROLS, that does NOT mean we want to walk all over the 2nd Amendment. You sir, are an idiot.
And I mistakenly thought this was a right wing flying monkey free site ...well guess their everywhere ....
@captain"""
Just more right wing blogesphere nonsense from where they just make stuff up then feed on and off each other creating an echo chamber of mis-disinformation outrageous and outlandish fake conspiracy theories and make believe rumors and just out and out bold faced lies..they have never been right about anything .....ever
yeah. ok the price of ammo and guns are rocketing higher because no thinks that obama want to confiscate guns. don't worry there is planty of kool-aid. drink up.
i love ad-hominum attacks. can't debate so attack the man. way to prove i'm right and help me convince others.
Isn't it shocking that Captainkid states they have a degree in Econ, yet their grammar leaves something to be desired. What are you like 12 with the Kool-aid comments? Grow up and get an education!!
ohhh, the old spelling argument. because i type fast and don't edit or care too much on a blog, that must mean i'm lieing. ok!
so lets educate a little. gdp=c+i+g+(n-x) this is the demad equation for gdp. in q4 this # grew at a annualised rate of -.1%. how? G-government spending increased. so that means the private sector of the economy shrank more than amount government spending increased.
see the propaganda you are watching does not tell you this. guess what they call slow to no growth and rising inflation? it's called stagflation, and the last time it occured in the us was when Jimmy Carter was pres.
Brandi, one day you are going to wake up and realise that the truth is hidden from you. when you look for it you'll see the lengths that organizations like fox and msnbc go to to keep you in the dark. The Kool-aid reference is meant to highlight the danger of blind following.
Captainkid is clearly just another forum troll. We must learn to stop responding to vapid, off-topic idiocy like the comments this man makes. Only then will rational discourse of the topics at hand be available. Please stop feeding the hungry child.
captainkid28.....
It is high time you developed a Personal Relationship with Reality. List your proof of Obama's lies, your proof he is coming to take your pen..... Guns, and then deal with your own hypocrisy with your complete lack of outrage aver all the Embassy/Consulate attacks resulting in deaths under your "Demigod" of Dubya. Either do that, or stay under your personal rock of ignorance and be dismissed as a raving lunatic that belongs in an asylum, in a straitjacket.
Please Get That guys face OFFF of the screen !!!!
Yess,verry nauseating indeed,,,
Launch the Drones .............................Heheheheheheeeeeeee...........
I always wanted to punch that face every time I saw it on tv. Time and distance have not diminished that urge.
Great job Rachel for keeping the legacy of these criminals on the conscious of Americans...Our jails are crowded by the wrong people & these cowards traitors are way overdue for incarceration YESTERDAY...
Three cheers for Rachel getting this expose together, being a great fan of cable news I think I have a pretty good grasp of the P.T Barnum aspects of this war that never needed to be. From WMD that did not exist, to outing a CIA agent, exposing her contacts and their families to the wrath of horrible regimes, and then excusing the crime of exposing an undercover agent.
This made Watergate look like stealing some kids candies. And the aftermath?
The cleaners took care of it. Like it never happened.
-Can't wait to see it-.
I guess all of these Democrats were lying about the WMD's since they didnt exist...
http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/wmdquotes.asp
just saying...
Leave it to re reg to not read his own source. To bad for him that all Snopes shows is how far the GWB dishonesty went and how dishonest re reg is for trying to use Snopes to prove his point without reading past the first line.
@Storm """
Did you actually read that piece from snopes
the quotes listed above are substantially correct reproductions of statements made by various Democratic leaders regarding Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's acquisition or possession of weapons of mass destruction. However, some of the quotes are truncated, and context is provided for none of them — several of these quotes were offered in the course of statements that clearly indicated the speaker was decidedly against unilateral military intervention in Iraq by the U.S.
Moreover, several of the quotes offered antedate the four nights of airstrikes unleashed against Iraq by U.S. and British forces during Operation Desert Fox in December 1998, after which Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen and Gen. Henry H. Shelton (chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) announced the action had been successful in "degrad[ing] Saddam Hussein's ability to deliver chemical, biological and nuclear weapons."
In the section below where we highlight these quotes, we've tried to provide sufficient surrounding material to make clear the context in which the quotes were offered as well as include links to the full text from which they were derived wherever possible.
@ Storm ''
How does anything dems said in the past have to do with this ...
Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction
.Dick Cheney
Speech to VFW National Convention
August 26, 2002
Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons.
George Bush
Speech to UN General Assembly
September 12, 2002
"Iraq has stockpiled biological and chemical weapons, and is rebuilding the facilities used to make more of those weapons."
George Bush
Radio address, October 5, 2002
"We've also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas. We're concerned that Iraq is exploring ways of using these UAVS for missions targeting the United States."
"The evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons program. Saddam Hussein has held numerous meetings with Iraqi nuclear scientists, a group he calls his "nuclear mujahideen" -- his nuclear holy warriors. Satellite photographs reveal that Iraq is rebuilding facilities at sites that have been part of its nuclear program in the past. Iraq has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes and other equipment needed for gas centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons."
George Bush
Cincinnati, Ohio speech,
October 7, 2002
If he declares he has none, then we will know that Saddam Hussein is once again misleading the world.
Ari Fleischer
Press Briefing
December 2, 2002
The president of the United States and the secretary of defense would not assert as plainly and bluntly as they have that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction if it was not true, and if they did not have a solid basis for saying it.
Ari Fleischer December 6, 2002
We know for a fact that there are weapons there.
Ari Fleischer
Press Briefing
January 9, 2003
Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons
. Ari FleischerPress BriefingJanuary 9, 2003
"25,000 liters of anthrax ... 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin ... materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent ... upwards of 30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents ... several mobile biological weapons labs ... thousands of Iraqi security personnel ... at work hiding documents and materials from the U.N. inspectors."
Colin PowellRemarks to UN Security CouncilFebruary 5, 2003
We have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons -- the very weapons the dictator tells us he does not have.
George Bush
Radio Address
February 8, 2003
We believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.
Vice President Dick Chaney
March 16, 2003
Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised.
George Bush
Address to the Nation
March 17, 2003
Well, there is no question that we have evidence and information that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, biological and chemical particularly . . . all this will be made clear in the course of the operation, for whatever duration it takes.
Ari FleisherPress BriefingMarch 21, 2003
There is no doubt that the regime of Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction. And . . . as this operation continues, those weapons will be identified, found, along with the people who have produced them and who guard them
. Gen. Tommy Franks
Press ConferenceMarch 22, 2003
I have no doubt we're going to find big stores of weapons of mass destruction.
Defense Policy Board member Kenneth AdelmanWashington Post, p. A27March 23, 2003
on Iraq WMD
We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat.
Donald Rumsfeld
ABC Interview
March 30, 2003
Obviously the administration intends to publicize all the weapons of mass destruction U.S. forces find -- and there will be plenty.
Neocon scholar Robert Kagan
Washington Post op-ed
April 9, 2003
We are learning more as we interrogated or have discussions with Iraqi scientists and people within the Iraqi structure, that perhaps he destroyed some, perhaps he dispersed some. And so we will find them. But for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them.-
-George W. Bush
Interview with TVP Poland
5/30/2003
You remember when [Secretary of State] Colin Powell stood up in front of the world, and he said Iraq has got laboratories, mobile labs to build biological weapons ...They're illegal. They're against the United Nations resolutions, and we've so far discovered two...And we'll find more weapons as time goes on
-George W. Bush
Press Briefing
5/30/2003
For bureaucratic reasons, we settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction (as justification for invading Iraq) because it was the one reason everyone could agree on.
Paul Wolfowitz
Vanity Fair interview
Amunaka...
Please see the Webster defintion of "degrade"...nowhere that I see does it say eliminate completely...
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/degrade
Substanitially correct means that they are accurate.
If you want to dispute any of them, provide proof that the statement is not factual.
just saying...
@Storm"""'
What...? did you read the link you provided..
yes I did...and many other links ...do you need those also?
just saying...
@Storm"""
Huh...?
Sorry but you seem to be dancing without any music
Did snopes say any of those statements were not true? No!
Show me any one of those statements that isnt true...
just saying..
@Storm """
Like I said dancing without music...
"substantially correct" reproductions" of statements "
Like I said....they did not say any of the statements were not true. As a matter of fact, the article got a TRUE rating from them...not false, not have true...TRUE...
All you have to do is find one of those statements that misrepresents what the speaker said and you win...but you can't.
just saying...
I was all set to accept the Iraq war as a possible necessity until a show mentioned that Colin Powell's visual aides were drawings of trucks.
It's then I realized that whole thing was a sham/scam.
It is no secret cheney and bush may have committed fraud during the run up to the so called Iraq war. Sad it has taken this long to have the light of day shed on this criminal act on US television. Rachel ALWAYS gets it right and when she doesn't she admits mistakes. bush is living in a $3 million dollar mansion in Dallas but should be in a $100 million dollar Federal Prison in Kansas.
Here is something that can be done. Someone needs to file charges of fraud in accordance with United States Code (USC) Title 18 Section 371 which simply states:
Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud United States
If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose, and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. If, however, the offense, the commission of which is the object of the conspiracy, is a misdemeanor only, the punishment for such conspiracy shall not exceed the maximum punishment provided for such misdemeanor.
Also most of the members of the present Congress have violated their oath of office by not issuing a declaration of war against Iraq. James Madison, the father of the Constitution said; "the Constitution expressly and exclusively vests in the Legislature (Congress) the power of declaring a state of war [and] the power of raising armies. A delegation of such powers [to the president] would have struck, not only at the fabric of our Constitution, but at the foundation of all well organized and well checked governments. The separation of the power of declaring war from that of conducting it, is wisely contrived to exclude the danger of its being declared for the sake of its being conducted.”
Lastly, a little missive for you from the World War Two Nuremberg Trails - the indictment.....
“War is essentially and evil thing……”
“Count Two of the Indictment charges the defendants with committing specific crimes against peace by planning, preparing, initiating, and waging wars of aggression against a number of other States. It will be convenient to consider the question of the existence of a common plan and the question of aggressive war together, and to deal later in this Judgment with the question of the individual responsibility of the defendants. The charges in the Indictment that the defendants planned and waged aggressive wars are charges of the utmost gravity. War is essentially an evil thing. Its consequences are not confined to the belligerent States alone, but affect the whole world. To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole. “
President Obama right off let these criminals walk and I for one, will never forgive him for that and neither should the parents of the 4486 killed as a result of lies.
Perhaps there will be a renewed effort to bring to justice the war criminals in our midst.
I'll definitely tune-in to watch this program. Besides all the deceptions used by Bush administration neo-cons before starting the war, I'll be watching specifically for five things to be mentioned:
1) the forged Niger embassy documents which showed up in Italy, delivered by someone to the CIA's Rome station chief (forwarded to the CIA and therefore to the neo-cons), forged documents which falsely claimed that Iraq had been seeking tons of yellow-cake uranium from Niger, a claim which former U.S. ambassador Joe Wilson was sent to Niger to investigate, reporting the claim was highly dubious, but this claim then made it into Bush's 2003 SOTU address, the 16 words,
2) the Persian Gulf War Exercise conducted by the Pentagon in 2001, in which the U.S. commander playing the role of the Iranian enemy commander used small high-speed boats packed with explosives to decimate the U.S. naval forces in the Persian Gulf. Afterward, the Bush neo-cons (and Rumsfeld) demanded a new "exercise" be conducted, but the second time the U.S. commander playing the Iranian enemy commander role was forbidden from using small high-speed boats as part of his attack force (the Pentagon, i.e. Rumsfeld, then got the "result" they wanted).
3) the U.S. War College's assessment of what a post-invasion Iraq would be like, probably a study requested by Secretary of State Colin Powell or someone (not a neo-con) trying to counter the neo-con claims about an Iraq invasion being a "cakewalk," a small invasion force only being required and the cost would be minimal.
4) the Bush lies and deceptions not only about the WMD but the search for them. Bush kicked out the U.N. WMD inspectors inside Iraq 48 hours before the invasion was begun (Bush lied at least twice months later, claiming that he had to go into Iraq because Saddam Hussein's wouldn't allow WMD inspectors into the country). And if you read Judith Miller's early embedded dispatches filed with the NY Times in which she rode with the U.S. military task force sent in to find the WMD, you will notice one dispatch especially, in which Miller recounts her task force pulling out of an ongoing tank battle, skirting the righting and racing northward to a point west of Baghdad to a suspected "active" WMD storage or manufacturing site. They found an abandoned compound, half-buried under Iraqi sand. Question: was this location withheld from the U.N.'S WMD inspectors inside Iraq before the invasion?
5) any discussion of Bush's infamous 16 words in his 2003 SOTU address must mention Joe Wilson and his wife Valerie Plame Wilson, the former covert NOC CIA agent whose cover was blown by Bush neo-cons in retaliation against her husband having written an op-ed questioning the 16 words. Plus, where's the CIA's after-incident damage assessment report, which the CIA was required to issue after one of their top counter-proliferation agents had her cover blown by the Bush neo-cons, probably orchestrated from VP Dick Cheney's office itself (remember his notations in the margins of Joe Wilson's op-ed?? Note: if not damage to national security had occurred or if people hadn't died due to her cover being blown (and her overseas contacts exposed), then this CIA report would no doubt have been released. OTOH, it's going "missing" speaks volumes.
Actually, a full hour or two could be dedicated to each one of the above topics, but I hope at least some mention is made by Rachel, because they are all part of the same neo-con deception and pernicious puzzle that lied us into a war in Iraq.
Howdy long time no read! So right the is so much we don't know that's still hidden from us. I just hope Cheney lives long enough so we can bring up charges! The GWB administration destroyed this country and I think I can to that Mission Accomplished!
you forgot the fake George bush military records that Dan Rather produced.
Where did those documents come from anyway and who was it that posted the documents were fake and how long after the story broke...
Hmmm
bush and how he got into the TANG Champain Squadron was always well known....
At Height of Vietnam, Bush Picks Guard
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, July 28, 1999; Page A1
Two weeks before he was to graduate from Yale, George Walker Bush stepped into the offices of the Texas Air National Guard at Ellington Field outside Houston and announced that he wanted to sign up for pilot training.
It was May 27, 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War. Bush was 12 days away from losing his student deferment from the draft at a time when Americans were dying in combat at the rate of 350 a week. The unit Bush wanted to join offered him the chance to fulfill his military commitment at a base in Texas. It was seen as an escape route from Vietnam by many men his age, and usually had a long waiting list.
Bush had scored only 25 percent on a "pilot aptitude" test, the lowest acceptable grade. But his father was then a congressman from Houston, and the commanders of the Texas Guard clearly had an appreciation of politics.
Bush was sworn in as an airman the same day he applied. His commander, Col. Walter B. "Buck" Staudt, was apparently so pleased to have a VIP's son in his unit that he later staged a special ceremony so he could have his picture taken administering the oath, instead of the captain who actually had sworn Bush in. Later, when Bush was commissioned a second lieutenant by another subordinate, Staudt again staged a special ceremony for the cameras, this time with Bush's father the congressman – a supporter of the Vietnam War – standing proudly in the background.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/bush072899.htm
Sad that all you have is small stories to try and counter your party's huge lies. That is the true difference between regressives and progressives today. Progressives are focused on the big picture and what needs to be done to create a better country and world for everyone and we are willing to at least try and find solutions towards making a more positive world. Regressives concentrate on backwards thinking, old disproved ideas and lies and think fear, uncertainty and doubt are the keys to success.
is editing the travon martin/george zimmerman 911 call. the big picture?
it's called propaganda. and your falling for it.
CK28 haven't you earned your troll fee yet? Travon Martin now? It's fascinating how you guys fall into lockstep, and then spew about "Kool Aid".
wow. proving propaganda never gets old.
"you guys" whats that supose to mean? how divisive.
no don't call msnbc out as lieing propaganda, thats mean! mommy Captainkid is speaking the truth.. waahhhhhhh
@ captain"""
Thy name is projection
Just wait until this doc airs. It'll send Fox News into a feeding frenzy. Steve Douchy might have a fit right there on Faux 'n' Friends.
Will this show be on the TRMS podcast? I still haven't seen the George Tiller documentary, and I'd like to actually watch this one, just not quite enough to go and set up and pay for cable. (Hint: put them up for sale on iTunes, if you can't sell commercials for a free podcast.)
Good evening Ms Maddow, I’m looking forward to your special on Monday. As a veteran, Vietnam, I’m an old guy, have a few questions that perhaps your special will provide some answers for me, and my fellow Americans.
When all of this started, I ,as many of you, were glued to the T.V., just waiting to see whats next, who gets killed, what village gets destroyed, etc.,etc. In the end questions were asked, and in my view, no legitimate responses were given.
My question is, why in God’s name, the Bush/Cheney administration start a war with Iraq????
Greed? need to clean-up afterwards, contractors (Cheney).
Or was it, heaven forbid, “JUST FOR FUN”!
This should be REQUIRED VIEWING in EVERY History class in America! PLEASE watch this and encourage EVERYONE YOU KNOW to watch it!
Picked the perfect frame of W staring straight into your eyes with that b.s.
I really want to see this but I don't have a TV. The only way I get to easily view Rachel's show is via podcasts. Any suggestions?
I really want to see this, but I don't have a TV. I watch Rachel's show via podcasts. Any suggestions?
Hey fanof, go to sears, walmart etc, and buy a TV. HD by the way, believe me, you won’t regret it, as long as it is made in America, more than likely “it” won’t crap out when you most need it, you know, when watching the Rachel Maddow Show!
Go for it buddy, make the small investment to help American businesses!
Buying a book on 'marketing' could be another option.
I really want to see this, but I don't have a tv. I watch Rachel's show via podcasts. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Sorry for triple posting the same thing. I'm new and didn't think the post was getting through. Ooopsie!
His face just says "beat me up" and Darth Cheney in the background saying "dont screw this up for me you @!$%#".
captainkid28
Voters for bush/cheney unwilling to admit their mistake, Just like bush/cheney.
Watch the video and STFU.
That frame from the video perfectly captures "hubris"
This was Bush/Cheney capitalizing terrorism to make a profit.
If they lied about Iraq then why couldn't 9/11 be an inside job as well?
The Iraq invasio....I mean "pre-emptive strike" caused more protesting than any war before it, but you hardly saw anything on the news. Bush didn't fool that many people, but he pulled it off anyway. That's what's so @#$# scary.
Get-Real I hear you.......Scary as hell. Captainkid I really feel for you man. And don't try to tell me you have a Degree in Econ. Here's why......IN ECON YOU STUDY CAUSE AND AFFECT. You use your BRAIN just as you do in the game of Chess. Either that or you spent a lot of money on OPPs' (OTHER PEOPLES PAPERS). The Swill your Spewing is Tin Hat crazy pal. I have a new name for you > CaptainLapierre of the BAT@!$%# Krazy Klan.
If Obama was truly a gun taker guy, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice would have been arrested for war crimes (not to mention assorted economic crimes) on January 21, 2009. Analogy to Benghazi (where FOUR people died, not 3,000) would have been to then use that tragedy as a pretext to invade Iran or North Korea - that is what Bush did. He failed to protect us despite NUMEROUS warnings about Al Qaeda, yet he was hailed as a hero, not an inept empty suit - or worse, by the captainkid28's of the world, and cheered when he invaded TWO countries - rather than use Seal Team 6 to take out suspected perpetrators. It's horrifying to think of the thousands of American kids who were killed or maimed, and the tens of thousands of Iraqi and Afghan citizens who were killed, maimed, orphaned, uprooted (not to mention the thousands of terrorists created).