Tired Rhetoric

Let's see, Cheney and others are calling certain Democrats out on their constant, tired drumbeat of "Bush Lied", "Illegal, Immoral", "No WMD", "Manipulated Intelligence" (a variation on "Bush Lied") and saying "wait a minute -- we didn't make this shit up. You all believed it after seeing the same intelligence we did." Clinton & Albright were talking about regime change long before we took over the cubicles.

And Kerry retorts in his usual fact-bereft manner that it was hard to name a Bush official with "less credibility on Iraq".

"Secret-Session" Reid calls it "tired rhetoric" and says "Political attacks do nothing to get the job done in Iraq."

Can I get an "I KNOW" from the peanut gallery? Just what, exactly, have the Democrats been doing since the start of the last election season if not making political attacks? Republicans are simply responding to the "tired rhetoric" the Dems keep spewing. If their responses sound tired, it just might be because the charges they are responding to are tired.

Want some rhetoric? How about these gems:

"I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force-- if necessary-- to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security."
- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002

SOURCE: http://www.keepmedia.com/ShowItemDetails.do?itemID=364586&extID=10032&oliID=213

"Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime. He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation. And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction. So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real."
- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003

SOURCE: http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2003_0123.html

"The threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real...He has had a free hand for 4 years to reconstitute these weapons, allowing the world, during he interval, to lose the focus we had on weapons of mass destruction and the issue of proliferation."

- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), October 9, 2002

SOURCE: http://www.rnc.org/News/Read.aspx?ID=3385

"[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs."
- Letter to President Clinton, signed by Senators John Kerry, Tom Daschle, Carl Levin and others Oct. 9, 1998

SOURCE: http://www.iraqwatch.org/government/US/Letters,%20reports%20and%20statements/levin-10-9-98.html


"The UNSCOM inspectors believe that Iraq still has stockpiles of chemical and biological munitions, a small force of Scud-type missiles, and the capacity to restart quickly its production program and build many, many more weapons…And some day, some way, I guarantee you, he'll use the arsenal…One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line."

President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998

SOURCE: http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/02/17/transcripts/clinton.iraq/

"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program."

President Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998

SOURCE:
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/02/18/iraq.political.analysis/

"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power... We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country "
Vice-President Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002

SOURCE: http://www.commonwealthclub.org/archive/02/02-09gore-speech.html
(and then he condtradicts himself in the same speech...)

Military action to dislodge Saddam Hussein will "severely damage" the overall war on terrorism and "weaken" U.S. leadership in the world.
Vice-President Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002

SOURCE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A56356-2002Sep23?language=printer


"We have made it clear that it is our policy to see Saddam Hussein gone...And if entrusted with the presidency, my resolve will never waver."

Vice-President Al Gore, May 23, 2000

SOURCE: http://www.sftt.org/dw09252002.html#7

"Earlier today, I ordered America's armed forces to strike military and security targets in Iraq. They are joined by British forces. Their mission is to attack Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and its military capacity to threaten its neighbors."-EX-President William Clinton, Dec. 16, 1998

SOURCE: http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/12/16/transcripts/clinton.html

"Iraq is a long way from [the USA], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face."- Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998

SOURCE: http://www.fas.org/news/iraq/1998/02/20/98022006_tpo.html

"If you remember in 1991, Saddam Hussein invaded another country, he plagued it, he set fire to it, and he decided that he could control the region. Before that, he had gassed his own people. Hussein has chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies."- Madeline Albright, Clinton's Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999

SOURCE: http://www.ccchronicle.com/back/99nov22/vp2.html

"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983. If we fail to respond, Saddam and all those who follow will believe that they can threaten the security of a vital region with impunity. But if we act now as one, we will send a clear message to would-be tyrants and terrorists that we will do what it takes to protect our security and our freedom."- Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998

SOURCE: http://www.usatoday.com/news/index/iraq/iraq172.htm

"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process."- Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998

SOURCE: http://www.house.gov/pelosi/priraq1.htm

"Look, we have exhausted virtually all our diplomatic effort to get the Iraqis to comply with their own agreements and with international law. Given that, what other option is there but to force them to do so?" - Sen. Tom Daschle (D, ND), Feb. 11, 1998

SOURCE: http://www.timeswrsw.com/V030803.HTM

"We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction."- Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), Dec. 8, 2002

SOURCE: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/DL12Ak02.html

"We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandates of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them."- Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002

SOURCE: http://www.keepmedia.com/Register.do?oliID=225

"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction. But there is again no persuasive evidence that air strikes alone over the course of several days will incapacitate Saddam and destroy his weapons of mass destruction. Saddam may well hide his most lethal weapons in mosques, schools and hospitals. There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein's regime is a serious danger, that he is a tyrant, and that his pursuit of lethal weapons of mass destruction cannot be tolerated. He must be disarmed."- Sen. Teddy Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002

SOURCE: http://kennedy.senate.gov/~kennedy/statements/02/09/2002927718.html

"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons..."- Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002

SOURCE: http://www.hnn.us/comments/13437.html

"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years ... We also should remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction."- Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002

SOURCE: http://rockefeller.senate.gov/news/2002/flrstmt0102002.html

"He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do" - Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002

SOURCE: http://www.house.gov/waxman/news_files/news_statements_res_iraq_10_10_02.htm

"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons. Should he succeed in that endeavor, he could alter the political and security landscape of the Middle East, which as we know all too well affects American security."- Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002

SOURCE: http://clinton.senate.gov/speeches/iraq_101002.html

Ok, then. In the face of all this, the drumbeat repetitions of many of these same people -- "Bush Lied", "Irresponsible", "Illegal, immoral", "Manipulated intelligence", refutation of these tired charges using the words of people who are making them is not tired .... it reveals the character of those who made them.

If you look, you'll find that many of these same people claim that Bush "ignored" much less substantial and much, much more sparse and shaky intelligence and actually blame him for not preventing 9/11. "He knew about it and did nothing." -- Well, apparently everybody "knew" about Saddam and his WMD and after 9/11, Bush decided it was too costly to do nothing.

The ONLY reason we now think Saddam probably didn't have WMD at the time of the invasion is that -- well, we had an invasion. Otherwise the same questions would beleager us today. Saddam wanted them. He wanted the world to guess whether or not, or how much or many he had.

Saddam decieved. The World believed. And he has been relieved ... of his post.