Another day, another old, under the public radar piece of information showing that Bush & Co. were planning the Iraq invasion since 9/11, regardless of legitimacy. This disturbing open letter from neo-con think tank The Project for the New American Century is dated nine days after 9/11 and compliments mounds of evidence suggesting the Administration used only facts (and supposed “facts”, e.g. aluminum tubes) that supported their pre-determined* agenda to topple Iraq.
We agree with Secretary of State Powell’s recent statement that Saddam Hussein “is one of the leading terrorists on the face of the Earth?.” It may be that the Iraqi government provided assistance in some form to the recent attack on the United States. But even if evidence does not link Iraq directly to the attack, any strategy aiming at the eradication of terrorism and its sponsors must include a determined effort to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. Failure to undertake such an effort will constitute an early and perhaps decisive surrender in the war on international terrorism.
The undersigned? Richard Perle, William Kristol, Charles Krauthammer, (that latter being two of the most hawkish and visible media pundits still banging the war drum) and many other neo-con stalwarts.
*Note also membership of PNAC. Wikipeidia shows Bush himself along with Cheney and Scooter Libby as members. Additionally, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, John Bolton, Armitage, as well as Perle and Kristol signed a 1998 letter to President Clinton urging military action against Hussein again.
Is there anyone who still thinks Bush and his accomplices approached war with Iraq with integrity and honesty?
Earlier:
“There are grounds for wondering whether the Republican party will survive this dilemma.”
