Thursday, August 24, 2006
Not only does this White House Press Conference from March of 2002 - less than 6 months after 9-11! - illustrate how quickly President Bush FLIP-FLOPPED on his "Get Osama bin Laden dead or alive" pledge, but it also illustrates what a hard-on Mr. Bush had for attacking, bombing, invading and occupying Iraq, which invasion would come almost exactly a year later in March 2003. The fact that the instigator, planner, and organizer of the dreadful 9-11 terrorist attacks on American targets so quickly and easily DROPPED OFF of President Bush's radar screen, illustrates just how OBSESSED Mr. Bush already was - less than 6 months after 9-11! - with ATTACKING IRAQ.
And as President Bush recently admitted in another White House press conference, this one in 2006, Mr. Bush then knew what he now knows, THAT IRAQ HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
..... http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/video/001
George W. Bush ATTACKED A COUNTRY that had NOTHING TO DO with the 9-11 attacks, by USING the 9-11 attacks as a rational to invade that country!
(Our video link is from a Jon Stewart news parody, which is fitting, because,
#1. Jon Stewart's 'fake news' show provides MUCH BETTER 'news' than America's corporate media news-whores; and
#2. it is farcical bordering on criminal negligence that the DEMOCRATIC PARTY doesn't have some version of a similar web-site "THE LIES and FLIP-FLOPS of George W. Bush" up and running somewhere!
Which leads to a new, 'current events' pending flip-flop: THE DRAFT:
Mr. Bush can NOT maintain the US military in Iraq, at the levels necessary to protect his precious PERMANENT BASES and city-sized embassy in that country, without an INVOLUNTARY SERVICE RECALL of US military men and women. This past week some thousands of Marines being INVOLUNTARILY RECALLED by the president who, during the Vietnam War, could not even report for duty at a safe, no combat, non-flying Alabama Air National Guard unit where then Lt. Bush had been sent to avoid creating a scandalous disgrace after he had refused to take a flight physical as ordered at his Texas ANG unit.
Herewith, Mr. Bush's most glaring FLIP-FLOP ever, his "I'm not that concerned about bin Laden" comments from 2002, a position Mr. Bush will repeat many times over the next 4 years:
=====================================
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020313-8.html
<< Q Mr. President, in your speeches now you rarely talk or mention Osama bin Laden. Why is that? Also, can you tell the American people if you have any more information, if you know if he is dead or alive? Final part -- deep in your heart, don't you truly believe that until you find out if he is dead or alive, you won't really eliminate the threat of --
THE PRESIDENT: Deep in my heart I know the man is on the run, if he's alive at all. Who knows if he's hiding in some cave or not; we haven't heard from him in a long time. And the idea of focusing on one person is -- really indicates to me people don't understand the scope of the mission.
Terror is bigger than one person. And he's just -- he's a person who's now been marginalized. His network, his host government has been destroyed. He's the ultimate parasite who found weakness, exploited it, and met his match. He is -- as I mentioned in my speech, I do mention the fact that this is a fellow who is willing to commit youngsters to their death and he, himself, tries to hide -- if, in fact, he's hiding at all.
So I don't know where he is. You know, I just don't spend that much time on him, Kelly, to be honest with you. I'm more worried about making sure that our soldiers are well-supplied; that the strategy is clear; that the coalition is strong; that when we find enemy bunched up like we did in Shahikot Mountains, that the military has all the support it needs to go in and do the job, which they did.
And there will be other battles in Afghanistan. There's going to be other struggles like Shahikot, and I'm just as confident about the outcome of those future battles as I was about Shahikot, where our soldiers are performing brilliantly. We're tough, we're strong, they're well-equipped. We have a good strategy. We are showing the world we know how to fight a guerrilla war with conventional means.
Q But don't you believe that the threat that bin Laden posed won't truly be eliminated until he is found either dead or alive?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, as I say, we haven't heard much from him. And I wouldn't necessarily say he's at the center of any command structure. And, again, I don't know where he is. I -- I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him. I know he is on the run. I was concerned about him, when he had taken over a country. I was concerned about the fact that he was basically running Afghanistan and calling the shots for the Taliban.
But once we set out the policy and started executing the plan, he became -- we shoved him out more and more on the margins. He has no place to train his al Qaeda killers anymore. And if we -- excuse me for a minute -- and if we find a training camp, we'll take care of it. Either we will or our friends will. That's one of the things -- part of the new phase that's becoming apparent to the American people is that we're working closely with other governments to deny sanctuary, or training, or a place to hide, or a place to raise money.
And we've got more work to do. See, that's the thing the American people have got to understand, that we've only been at this six months. This is going to be a long struggle. I keep saying that; I don't know whether you all believe me or not. But time will show you that it's going to take a long time to achieve this objective. And I can assure you, I am not going to blink. And I'm not going to get tired. Because I know what is at stake. And history has called us to action, and I am going to seize this moment for the good of the world, for peace in the world and for freedom. >>
<< THE PRESIDENT: You mean in terms of the draft? Well, the country shouldn't expect there to be a draft. I know they're registering. But the volunteer army is working. Particularly when Congress passes my budget, it's going to make it more likely to work. There's been a pay raise and then we'll have another pay raise. And the mission is clear, the training is good, the equipment is going to be robust. Congress needs to pass this budget.
So I don't worry about, and people shouldn't worry about a draft. We do have women in the military and I'm proud of their service. And they're welcome in the military; they make a great addition in the military.
Q You don't think --
THE PRESIDENT: Pardon me?
Q -- that the military will be stretched too thinly, as some people have feared?
THE PRESIDENT: Ed, I don't think so. I think we're in pretty good shape right now. It's -- there's no question we have obligations around the world, which we will keep. If you went to -- did you go to Korea with us?
Q Yes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: There's a major obligation there of 37,000 troops, an obligation that is an important obligation, one that I know is important and we will keep that obligation. But we've got ample manpower to meet our needs.
Plus we've got a vast coalition of nations willing to lend their own manpower to the war. And as I mentioned the other day in my speech there on the South Lawn, 17 nations are involved in this first theater in Afghanistan. And we had Canadians and Danish and Germans and Australians -- I'm probably going to leave somebody out -- Brits, Special Forces troops on the ground, boots on the ground, as they say, willing to risk their lives in a dangerous phase of this war. And men going cave to cave, looking for killers. These people don't like to surrender, they don't surrender. But we've been able to count on foreign troops to help us.
And so, Ed, I think we're in good shape, I really do. And, if not, we'll -- I'll address the nation. But I don't see any need to right now. >>
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020313-8.html
And as President Bush recently admitted in another White House press conference, this one in 2006, Mr. Bush then knew what he now knows, THAT IRAQ HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
..... http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/video/001
George W. Bush ATTACKED A COUNTRY that had NOTHING TO DO with the 9-11 attacks, by USING the 9-11 attacks as a rational to invade that country!
(Our video link is from a Jon Stewart news parody, which is fitting, because,
#1. Jon Stewart's 'fake news' show provides MUCH BETTER 'news' than America's corporate media news-whores; and
#2. it is farcical bordering on criminal negligence that the DEMOCRATIC PARTY doesn't have some version of a similar web-site "THE LIES and FLIP-FLOPS of George W. Bush" up and running somewhere!
Which leads to a new, 'current events' pending flip-flop: THE DRAFT:
Mr. Bush can NOT maintain the US military in Iraq, at the levels necessary to protect his precious PERMANENT BASES and city-sized embassy in that country, without an INVOLUNTARY SERVICE RECALL of US military men and women. This past week some thousands of Marines being INVOLUNTARILY RECALLED by the president who, during the Vietnam War, could not even report for duty at a safe, no combat, non-flying Alabama Air National Guard unit where then Lt. Bush had been sent to avoid creating a scandalous disgrace after he had refused to take a flight physical as ordered at his Texas ANG unit.
Herewith, Mr. Bush's most glaring FLIP-FLOP ever, his "I'm not that concerned about bin Laden" comments from 2002, a position Mr. Bush will repeat many times over the next 4 years:
=====================================
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020313-8.html
<< Q Mr. President, in your speeches now you rarely talk or mention Osama bin Laden. Why is that? Also, can you tell the American people if you have any more information, if you know if he is dead or alive? Final part -- deep in your heart, don't you truly believe that until you find out if he is dead or alive, you won't really eliminate the threat of --
THE PRESIDENT: Deep in my heart I know the man is on the run, if he's alive at all. Who knows if he's hiding in some cave or not; we haven't heard from him in a long time. And the idea of focusing on one person is -- really indicates to me people don't understand the scope of the mission.
Terror is bigger than one person. And he's just -- he's a person who's now been marginalized. His network, his host government has been destroyed. He's the ultimate parasite who found weakness, exploited it, and met his match. He is -- as I mentioned in my speech, I do mention the fact that this is a fellow who is willing to commit youngsters to their death and he, himself, tries to hide -- if, in fact, he's hiding at all.
So I don't know where he is. You know, I just don't spend that much time on him, Kelly, to be honest with you. I'm more worried about making sure that our soldiers are well-supplied; that the strategy is clear; that the coalition is strong; that when we find enemy bunched up like we did in Shahikot Mountains, that the military has all the support it needs to go in and do the job, which they did.
And there will be other battles in Afghanistan. There's going to be other struggles like Shahikot, and I'm just as confident about the outcome of those future battles as I was about Shahikot, where our soldiers are performing brilliantly. We're tough, we're strong, they're well-equipped. We have a good strategy. We are showing the world we know how to fight a guerrilla war with conventional means.
Q But don't you believe that the threat that bin Laden posed won't truly be eliminated until he is found either dead or alive?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, as I say, we haven't heard much from him. And I wouldn't necessarily say he's at the center of any command structure. And, again, I don't know where he is. I -- I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him. I know he is on the run. I was concerned about him, when he had taken over a country. I was concerned about the fact that he was basically running Afghanistan and calling the shots for the Taliban.
But once we set out the policy and started executing the plan, he became -- we shoved him out more and more on the margins. He has no place to train his al Qaeda killers anymore. And if we -- excuse me for a minute -- and if we find a training camp, we'll take care of it. Either we will or our friends will. That's one of the things -- part of the new phase that's becoming apparent to the American people is that we're working closely with other governments to deny sanctuary, or training, or a place to hide, or a place to raise money.
And we've got more work to do. See, that's the thing the American people have got to understand, that we've only been at this six months. This is going to be a long struggle. I keep saying that; I don't know whether you all believe me or not. But time will show you that it's going to take a long time to achieve this objective. And I can assure you, I am not going to blink. And I'm not going to get tired. Because I know what is at stake. And history has called us to action, and I am going to seize this moment for the good of the world, for peace in the world and for freedom. >>
<< THE PRESIDENT: You mean in terms of the draft? Well, the country shouldn't expect there to be a draft. I know they're registering. But the volunteer army is working. Particularly when Congress passes my budget, it's going to make it more likely to work. There's been a pay raise and then we'll have another pay raise. And the mission is clear, the training is good, the equipment is going to be robust. Congress needs to pass this budget.
So I don't worry about, and people shouldn't worry about a draft. We do have women in the military and I'm proud of their service. And they're welcome in the military; they make a great addition in the military.
Q You don't think --
THE PRESIDENT: Pardon me?
Q -- that the military will be stretched too thinly, as some people have feared?
THE PRESIDENT: Ed, I don't think so. I think we're in pretty good shape right now. It's -- there's no question we have obligations around the world, which we will keep. If you went to -- did you go to Korea with us?
Q Yes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: There's a major obligation there of 37,000 troops, an obligation that is an important obligation, one that I know is important and we will keep that obligation. But we've got ample manpower to meet our needs.
Plus we've got a vast coalition of nations willing to lend their own manpower to the war. And as I mentioned the other day in my speech there on the South Lawn, 17 nations are involved in this first theater in Afghanistan. And we had Canadians and Danish and Germans and Australians -- I'm probably going to leave somebody out -- Brits, Special Forces troops on the ground, boots on the ground, as they say, willing to risk their lives in a dangerous phase of this war. And men going cave to cave, looking for killers. These people don't like to surrender, they don't surrender. But we've been able to count on foreign troops to help us.
And so, Ed, I think we're in good shape, I really do. And, if not, we'll -- I'll address the nation. But I don't see any need to right now. >>
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020313-8.html
