Dec. 22, 2008 (World News Trust) -- In a recent interview with ABC’s Charles Gibson, President George W. Bush offered that the greatest regret of his presidency was that the intelligence was wrong on Iraq. He then went on to say that a lot of people had put their reputations on the line. It hadn’t occurred to me at first that he omitted mentioning regret for the lives lost based on that bad intelligence.
Men of good will can disagree about interpreting a set of circumstances. Is it lying to choose to believe only reports that support your position and ignore evidence to the contrary? I don’t know the answer to that. As much as I believe that’s a dangerous characteristic for a president to have, I will leave that alone as well. I think that the most important question for the president regarding Iraq has never been asked.
“And Hal, just what question is that?” you ask.
Well, before I get to it, I am going to do what many people who share my political feelings have previously thought impossible. I am going to presume that everything President Bush told us between September 2002, and April 2003 was true. I didn’t believe it then, but for the sake of argument, let’s play a little “What if?”
Now, in our Bush-inspired Universe, Saddam Hussein is a global threat possessing biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction, and he is developing a nuclear capability. The President comes to Congress and says he needs them to authorize him to use military force to motivate the UN to take action. Of course, this is the reverse order that his father’s successful venture took, but we are presuming everything is as President Bush says it is.
It is one month before the midterm elections, and a pre-emptive strike has already been launched at Democrats who might balk as being soft on terrorism. Vietnam Veteran Senator Max Cleland would lose his seat after commercials showing him and Osama would air. Never mind that every Democrat who had bothered to read the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq voted against authorizing force. We’re visiting Bushworld.
The President reassures us all that he is not looking for war, this is just one of the tools of diplomacy that he needs to get Saddam to comply with UN Resolutions. In fact, the President tells the American people that he will only go to war as a last resort. Dwell on that for a moment. Go ahead and take two.
Another way of saying that war is a “last resort” is to say that you have no other choice but to do so. In other words (aren’t semantics fun!), diplomacy has failed, we have to attack, and we have to attack right now! This brings me to that highly anticipated un-asked question. The envelope please!
“Mr. President, assuming that everything you’ve said so far is true, what happened between October and March that left you with no alternative but war? What did you learn on March 17th that made you give Saddam a 48-hour ultimatum?” Okay, so that’s two questions, but essentially they are the same. Nothing happened. I give him credit. His belligerence did get UN inspectors back into the country.
In June of 2003, President Bush said in an interview that he had given Saddam a chance to let inspectors in and he didn’t, but that is simply not true. Saddam did not kick the inspectors out -- Bush did. He said get out because the bombs are coming. Did they find the weapons they were looking for? No. Was Saddam in complete compliance with UN resolutions? No. His violation? Several hundred Scud Missiles could exceed their allowable range by a few miles.
To paraphrase Senator Zell Miller, what was he threatening us with -- SPIT BALLS? The inevitable, immutable, incontrovertible conclusion is that we absolutely did not have to start this war. That un-asked question leaves no wiggle room about intelligence failures. Mr. President, the blood of every life lost in Iraq, and those lost as a result of Iraq, is on your hands.