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President Bush and His Mission(ary) Positions
by AntiChimp
Wednesday, Jun. 22, 2005 at 8:27 AM
antichimp2005@yahoo.com
President Bush hit the airwaves on Sunday, in his weekly radio address, with some hard-hitting and startling new facts to support his invasion of Iraq.
President Bush hit the airwaves on Sunday, in his weekly radio address, with some hard-hitting and startling new facts to support his invasion of Iraq. His main point, delivered with a stern, no-nonsense gravitas: "We went to war because we were attacked."
Didn't know that! Damn those Iraqis, flying planes into our twinned symbols of American capitalism. Who do they think they are? If only we'd had some clue (http://scoop.agonist.org/annex/pdb.htm), some inkling that... oh, wait a minute... those were Saudis who flew planes into the WTC (http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel01/092701hjpic.htm). Oh well, Iraqis, Saudis, let's not split hairs, right? They looked swarthy, and that's the important thing.
At least we have a clear picture of our mission over there in Iraq, or Saudi Arabia, or wherever; what's the difference. It's mighty hot over there, and they have frequent sandstorms, so it's hard to tell exactly where you are. But where was I? Oh yeah, the mission. Let's take a quick trip in the way-back machine (http://www.toonopedia.com/peabody.htm), and see exactly what our mission was/is:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030306-8.html
March 6, 2003
"Our mission is clear in Iraq. Should we have to go in, our mission is very clear: disarmament."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030322.html
March 22, 2003
"Our cause is just, the security of the nations we serve and the peace of the world. And our mission is clear, to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, to end Saddam Hussein's support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/04/20030414-3.html
April 14, 2003
"Our forces have been given a clear mission: to end a regime that threatened its neighbors and the world with weapons of mass destruction and to free a people that had suffered far too long."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/05/20030503.html
May 3, 2003
Look, the mission's complete!
"On Thursday, I visited the USS Abraham Lincoln, now headed home after the longest carrier deployment in recent history. I delivered good news to the men and women who fought in the cause of freedom: Their mission is complete, and major combat operations in Iraq have ended..."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/07/20030730-1.html
July 30, 2003
Oops, nevermind what I said before...
"The United States and our allies will complete our mission in Iraq."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/11/20031104-3.html
November 4, 2003
Umm... forget what I said before; I was just blowin' smoke...
"That has been our mission all along, to develop the conditions such that a free Iraq will emerge, run by the Iraqi citizens."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/05/20040504-6.html
May 4, 2004
"We will see that Iraq is free and self-governing and democratic. We will accomplish our mission."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/06/20050602-14.html
June 2, 2005
D'oh! What I really meant to say...
"And our mission is clear there, as well, and that is to train the Iraqis so they can do the fighting; make sure they can stand up to defend their freedoms, which they want to do."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/06/20050620-19.html
June 20, 2005
No, really It's all about world peace, or something; yeah, that's the ticket...
"We're making progress toward the goal, which is, on the one hand, a political process moving forward in Iraq, and on the other hand, the Iraqis capable of defending themselves… And we will — we will complete this mission for the sake of world peace."
Well, whatever. Let's just look at one final quote:
"These are the actions of a regime engaged in a willful charade. These are the actions of a regime that systematically and deliberately is defying the world." (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030306-8.html)
Hmm, is that our President speaking about Iraq, or Saudi Arabia, or The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, or whatever, or is that the rest of the world speaking about the United States? Well, no matter. As long as we have a mission.
A tip o' the hat to Think Progress (http://thinkprogress.org/index.php?p=1133), for providing this informative timeline and links.
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