Rove admits to error on Iraq as Bush strategist

[sabra]

Source: AP

NEW YORK — Republican strategist Karl Rove says in a new memoir that the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq badly damaged the Bush administration's credibility and led to dwindling public support for the war.

The former White House political adviser blames himself for not pushing back against claims that President George W. Bush had taken the country to war under false pretenses, calling it one of the worst mistakes he made during the Bush presidency. The president, he adds, did not knowingly mislead the American public about the existence of such weapons.

In "Courage and Consequence," Rove argues that history will look favorably on Bush's two-term presidency, particularly his decision to invade Iraq. He calls the 2003 invasion the most consequential act of the Bush presidency and a justifiable response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, even though al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden, not Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, were responsible.

...

Rove staunchly defends Bush's handling of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated states along the Gulf of Mexico in September 2005. Bush came under withering criticism for the federal government's response to the crisis; his memorable praise for FEMA administrator Michael Brown — "Heck of a job, Brownie" — was fodder for those who said it revealed the administration's detachment and incompetence.

In the book, Rove blames state and local officials for botching recovery efforts, particularly Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, both Democrats.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jolpc4zkiLFvto8oeUxUtkvcfEDwD9E6R8A80

---

:rofl:

[Champion Jack]

1. Blah blah blah it's not my fault blah blah

Why isn't that little shit stain in jail?

[SpiralHawk]

2. "We republicons shoulda lied better." - Rove (R - Chickenhawk)

"If only we had lied better, we woulda suckered more sheeple."

- Rove (R - Chickenhawk)

[Gidney N Cloyd]

3. It wasn't a "failure to find" WMD, it was a confirmation that there weren't any!!

And why isn't he in JAIL?

[Botany]

6. They kicked the inspectors out to start "shock and awe"

The inspectors were telling them that there were no WMDs and that they (the inspectors)
could go anyplace in the country that wanted to go and could look at anyplace they wanted
to.

[karynnj]

30. which means that in March when they started the war they KNEW

with high probability there were no WMD.

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

9. exactly correct

They knew Iraq had disarmed. They lied.

[Plucketeer]

4. Rove - one of the regrettable points of free speech.

A pair of dirty socks would be more fitting than an apple for the mouth of this porker!

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

5. The error was his mom's for having gone through her entire pregnancy. nt

[wizstars]

21. ...and his daddy's, for not letting it run down his leg n/t

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

27. Bleeeeehhh!!! OK OK you beat me.

:evilgrin:

[Patsy Stone]

7. "Courage and Consequence"

A book named after two things from which Karl does not suffer.

My one regret is that I didn't try and snooker the American people more. STFU, Karl.

[conanneutron]

29. the REAL courage and consequence... (the protest record about his stupid book)

Is over here:
http://www.karlrovebook.net



The audacity of that guy calling his book that is absolutely amazing.
So much so that i've spent the last 3 months of my life trying to bum out and culture jam his book release with a rock compilation of the same name.

[panzerfaust]

8. Good, but only a million deaths too late?

Oh, sorry, I thought he was going to APOLOGIZE for having taken the "...country to war under false pretenses."

My bad.

[shotten99]

10. Gee, a neo-con that can't wrap his seedy brain around the concept of accountability?

[Mr. Sparkle]

11. Why do those two little tidbits remind me of Fox news?

... They sound remarkably like the talking points over the last 8 years.

[Blue Owl]

12. Hey Karl, that finger you're pointing everywhere

smells like your own diarrhea-spewing ass.

[earcandle]

13. One distorted maniac deserves a readership of same.

[AlphaCentauri]

14. of course you are writing the history books

that future americans will read

[heli]

15. So where is the punishment for the 'error'?

[Xipe Totec]

16. Sounds like a Futurama Episode

Fry: "Leela cried for her love as Fry lay dead under the heavy book case. The giant brain laughed in triumph. 'Ha ha ha!' Then, for no reason, he left Earth forever. The end." There. Now he's trapped in a book I wrote. A crummy world of plot holes and spelling errors.

Chief Giant Brain: The big brain am winning again! I am the greetest! Mwa-ha-ha-ha! Now I am leaving Earth for no raisin!

- Futurama, The Day the Earth Stood Stupid

[Magleetis]

17. Nice try fuckstick

We already know the truth.

[pasto76]

18. The thing that damaged their credibility was that they lied about the WMD to start

[Kingofalldems]

19. Rove's DU pal joined in and blamed Nagin and Blanco

I remember it well.

[global1]

20. Did Anybody Really Expect Anything Different Out Of Rove?.......

Excuses, lies, and obfuscation. Same ole - same ole.

[Solly Mack]

22. what a crock of shit

[DallasNE]

23. "did not knowingly mislead the American public"

How is that even possible. The UN inspectors had reported back that Saddam had no chemical or biological weapons because they had been destroyed several years earlier and that Saddam had not reconstituted his nuclear weapons program. Further, the memo about Saddam attempting to acquire yellowcake from Africa had been determined to be a fake even before he cited it in his State of the Union address before Congress. Everything Bush said mislead the American public. Everything. Bush made a political decision to invade Iraq under false pretenses. Those are the factd and nothing Rove says now can change the record. Bush knowingly mislead the American public for political reasons and the rest is history.

Next thing you know Rove will say that Bush didn't knowingly authorize torture. Bush, after all, repeatedly claimed that "we don't torture" only to find out that we tortured one person 185 times.

[zipplewrath]

26. Stupid or lying

Rove's defense seems to be grounded in "he wasn't lying, he was stupid". Plenty-o-people knew it was false, and were screaming it at him all over the world. And I don't mean code pink. I mean folks like the German Defense minister, Hans Blix, and even Powell was extremely sceptical about the vast majority of the evidence. Bush either didn't want to know, or lied. Either way it doesn't seem to be a big "defense" of the Bush presidency.

[thelordofhell]

24. I'm waiting for the chapter on Jeff Gannon

:popcorn:

[JDPriestly]

25. Rove's statement is not confirmed by the facts.

They knew that Iraq had not bought nuclear materials from Niger. Remember Valerie Plame.

They did not adequately equip the troops who entered Iraq for chemical or biological warfare. They had to know that it takes waves of troops to meet an assault with those kinds of weapons since those weapons were used not only in WWI but in the Iraq/Iran War. These are well established historical facts.

As someone else mentioned here, they kicked the UN inspectors out right when the inspectors were informing them that there were no WMDs and the only violations of the sanctions on Iraq were possession of some missiles that were longer range than permitted. Saddam had agreed to destroy those missiles. See the Vanity Fair article April 2004 edition on the Iraq War.

Rove is lying, plain and simple. Or shall we say he is interpreting facts in a manner that is unrealistically favorable to himself and GWB. He is ignoring inconvenient truths as usual.

[4_TN_TITANS]

28. WTF qualifies Rove to title anything "Courage and Consequence"

I'm sorry but there's nothing they can say now that will salvage their reputations. I wish people would quit posting Bush officials and their "I finally see the light" moments, while they try to recoup some income with books, etc.