Category: UK Page 1 of 8

It’s odd to write these post titles now.  It’s like a time warp back to 2005.  But with Bush attempting to rehabilitate himself, I don’t feel like I’ve much of a choice, here.  So, to restate: George W. Bush is not just a war criminal, but the sort of sorry individual who was willing to perpetrate a fraud on the world so he could get what he wanted:

According to a memo written by a Blair aide documenting the meeting, Bush and Blair in that session each said they doubted any weapons of mass destruction would soon be discovered by the UN inspectors then searching for such arms in Iraq. Without any WMDs, it could be harder to win support for the war. But Bush had an idea—or two.

The memo—portions of which were published in the New York Times and in Philippe Sands’Lawless World —noted that Bush raised the notion of provoking a confrontation with Saddam Hussein. “The US was thinking,” the memo said, “of flying US reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted UN colours. If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach” of UN resolutions. A retaliatory attack would then be fully justified; the war could begin. In other words, Bush raised the prospect of staging a phony event to justify a military attack on Iraq.

[ . . . ]

Now, Bush, too, is keeping the cover-up alive. In his new book, Decision Points, Bush does write about this particular meeting. [ . . . ] But Bush says nothing about his proposal to provoke the war through fraud. (The memo, by the way, does not record Blair objecting to this potential subterfuge.)

One of the most maddening things about this is that Bush doesn’t have the capacity to understand what he’s wrought.  (And I bet Tony Blair wishes he were more like Bush, on this point.  Too bad.  I hope he suffers for it until the end of his days.)