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[David Minton <dminton AT mindspring.com>]

On 7/30/04 11:46 AM, "Tony Spencer" <tony AT tonyspencer.com> wrote:

> Brilliant or not, you think he fooled all of those people?  Wow.
> 
>> brilliant.  Any decent definition of brilliance that I could
>> agree with would require both capability and the good
>> judgement to know how to use it.
> 
> So the congressmen weren't capable of seeing through the 'Bush lies'?
> 
>> All those quotes prove is that the administration was
>> successful in lying to create a climate of fear where it was
>> politically impossible to oppose the drive to war.
> 
> How about these quotes prior to Bush taking office?  Was he calling up these
> folks on the phone and lying to them as well?

Notice that all but one of the quotes are from 1998? Do you know hat
happened in December of 1998? The Clinton administration implemented
Operation Desert Fox, a coordinated attack by US and British forces to
destroy Iraqi WMD sites.

"Earlier today I ordered America's armed forces to strike military and
security targets in Iraq. They are joined by British forces...Their mission
is to attack Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and
its military capacity to threaten its neighbors."

-President Clinton 12.16.1998

http://www.cnn.com/US/9812/16/clinton.iraq.speech/

While I can't find the source, it is my understanding that Albright was
speaking in a historical sense in 1999, referring to how money was spent
during the embargo (on weapons) as opposed to food and medical supplies for
his people.

BTW, the source for those quotes seems to have been an email circulation. If
you do a search for these quotes, you will find them all together, in this
order, in numerous places.

Here is a rebuttal of that site:

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/b/bushlied.htm

So, any quote must be taken in the context of the rest of the speech, as
well as the period in which it was said. If you only take a fragment, you
can twist a quote to mean anything, even the opposite of the speaker's
intention.

Some say, this is a popular technique by right-wing commentators. Is it
true? You decide. *

David

*check out Outfoxed <http://www.outfoxed.org/>

> "One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to
> develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That
> is our bottom line."
> President Bill Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998
> 
> "If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We
> want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass
> destruction program."
> President Bill Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998
> 
> "Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal
> here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear,
> chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest
> security threat we face."
> Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998
> 
> "He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times
> since 1983."
> Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998
> 
> "[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S.
> Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate,
> air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to
> the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction
> programs."
> Letter to President Clinton, signed by:
> Democratic Senators Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others, Oct. 9,
> 1998
> 
> "Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass
> destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he
> has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process."
> Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998
> 
> "Hussein has ... chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass
> destruction and palaces for his cronies."
> Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999
> 
> ---
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