Shame and Discgrace Upon Our Nation

[earthside]

On www.Earthside.com

Shame and Discgrace Upon Our Nation

Even if you put the best spin on the Senate Intelligence Committee report from the Bush perspective (that Bush cannot be blamed for there being no weapons of mass destruction because the CIA gave him bad information), it still means that the United States of America, you and me, from the elite to the lowly -- 270 million of us -- have had our reputations besmirched and our honor soiled. "We" started a war and killed thousands of innocent Iraqis; "we" allowed the deaths of 1000 'coalition' troops -- all based on falsehoods, inaccuracies, lies, and frauds.

Nevertheless, Bush is singularly culpable because he had the ultimate responsibility as the decision-maker for war ... that was the power he wanted and that the Congress unconstitutionally gave him in the October 2002 Iraq resolution. Whether the CIA gave him the 'right' intelligence or not, in a matter as grave as war - and especially a 'preventative' war - he had a supreme ethical duty to know with absolute certainty that all of the information was accurate. Yet Bush constantly insisted that we must go to war because we had "to disarm Saddam." Since UN inspectors were on the ground and finding nothing and Bush still ordered the unprovoked attack, he is therefore, a priori guilty of premeditated murder. There was no self-defense argument since Iraq had not attacked the U.S.; there was not a 'preventative' war justification because there was no tangible evidence of weapons of mass destruction; there was not a 'just retribution' reason since there was no link between Iraq and September 11; and there was not legalistic grounds because the UN inspectors were withdrawn at Bush's insistence and the Security Council proceedings halted.

There is for this country now a fundamental moral dilemma: The Intelligence Committee report officially confirms that in truth there was simply no acceptable rationale for this unprovoked attack on a sovereign nation. Can we now just say "Oops, sorry about that"? What is the meaning now behind all of the death and destruction? How do we atone for such a bloody failure?

For strictly partisan political reasons, the radical Republicans on the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee are attempting to blame the CIA's shortcomings for Bush's deadly error. But in the end it cannot save Bush from the judgment of history ... or the judgment of his God. He and his cronies intentionally created and manipulated a sequence of events that has brought shame and disgrace upon our nation. There is no getting away from that moral and ethical truth.

DC

[ixion]

1. yep, abosolutely agreed.

As a nation, we have committed atrocities, and as such the leaders -- those responsible for the decision to do so -- must be held accountable, as international law denotes.

[lovedems]

2. ABB

also means blame "Anybody but Bush".

[Atlanticist]

3. I'm afraid from a non-US perspective,

two places, Abu Grahib and Guantanamo will stain the reputation of the USA for years to come.

[pathansen]

4. Yes, especially if he gets re-elected!!

I just saw that Kerry & Bush were neck and neck in the polls according MSNBC.