Tuesday, June 28, 2005
The Time for Truth is...Never
At a party this weekend we were asked when, if ever, we thought the Bush administration would level with the American people about it's hyping of the need to invade Iraq, inasmuch as it's clear now to all but the most partisan of observers that the facts, as the famous memo goes, were being "fixed around the policy".
The answer, sadly, is: never. No member of the Bush administration will ever admit the truth about their claims regarding "the grave and gathering threat" that Saddam Hussein supposedly posed to the U.S. Never.
Why? Because nearly 1,750 American soldiers have died in the effort, and thousands more have been wounded. To allow in any way that the cause for the invasion was hyped--that the case for Saddam's possession of WMD was "fixed" to deliver the pre-determined decision of an invasion--would be to destroy the legacy of Bush's administration and ruin the political reputations and futures of his deputies.
This they will never allow.
The Republican Party in general and George W. Bush in particular revel in their self-identification with all things military--incongruous though such parading may be. The president cannot get enough of being photographed in front of those who put themselves in harm's way for their country. It is essential for his image that he be understood to have the greatest gravitas at sending them to do so. To be caught having done it under false pretenses would ruin him utterly.
It would also destroy, or at least cripple, the careers of countless Bush sympathizers in the media--those who cheered the effort on and spread the gospel of invasion as solemnly as their peers once hyped the miracle of business that was Enron.
This is why they vociferously attack any questioning of their policy as unpatriotic and "anti-troop"--it's compensation, designed to deflect attention away from any serious questioning of exactly how and why so many brave Americans have died or been wounded.
For all of them--the administration, the press--to be revealed as having hyped the case for war in Iraq is to be responsible for the deaths of over seventeen hundred American soldiers.
They won't allow that--ever. The plain truth is they value their careers more than the truth, and more than anyone's life.-------------------------
Note: We've received a lengthy email from Dr. Michael Egnor in response to our remarks on his letter to the editor of the NY Times. 201k will be off for an extended Fourth of July weekend starting Thursday; if we don't post Dr. Egnor's letter and our response before then we'll do it early next week.
The answer, sadly, is: never. No member of the Bush administration will ever admit the truth about their claims regarding "the grave and gathering threat" that Saddam Hussein supposedly posed to the U.S. Never.
Why? Because nearly 1,750 American soldiers have died in the effort, and thousands more have been wounded. To allow in any way that the cause for the invasion was hyped--that the case for Saddam's possession of WMD was "fixed" to deliver the pre-determined decision of an invasion--would be to destroy the legacy of Bush's administration and ruin the political reputations and futures of his deputies.
This they will never allow.
The Republican Party in general and George W. Bush in particular revel in their self-identification with all things military--incongruous though such parading may be. The president cannot get enough of being photographed in front of those who put themselves in harm's way for their country. It is essential for his image that he be understood to have the greatest gravitas at sending them to do so. To be caught having done it under false pretenses would ruin him utterly.
It would also destroy, or at least cripple, the careers of countless Bush sympathizers in the media--those who cheered the effort on and spread the gospel of invasion as solemnly as their peers once hyped the miracle of business that was Enron.
This is why they vociferously attack any questioning of their policy as unpatriotic and "anti-troop"--it's compensation, designed to deflect attention away from any serious questioning of exactly how and why so many brave Americans have died or been wounded.
For all of them--the administration, the press--to be revealed as having hyped the case for war in Iraq is to be responsible for the deaths of over seventeen hundred American soldiers.
They won't allow that--ever. The plain truth is they value their careers more than the truth, and more than anyone's life.
Note: We've received a lengthy email from Dr. Michael Egnor in response to our remarks on his letter to the editor of the NY Times. 201k will be off for an extended Fourth of July weekend starting Thursday; if we don't post Dr. Egnor's letter and our response before then we'll do it early next week.
