Pentagon: No Significant Link Between Saddam and al-Qaeda
Most people who are honest and paying attention knew this long ago. The evidential situation was pretty darned clear even before the invasion. It's been clear since early on that there was no evidence of a significant, operational relationship between Saddam and al-Qaeda--and lots of reasons to think there was no such relationship. Unfortunately, the administration's propaganda campaign worked, and it stuck--an astonishing percentage of ordinary Americans still think we're in Iraq because Iraq was behind 9/11. If the truth about what happened ever sank in, there would be no possibility of resisting the public's demand for impeachment.
My policy: keep telling the truth. Take every opportunity to mention the facts to people who might benefit from them. Certain people are very happy that the truth of the situation never sank in, and they're content for the country to continue to believe falsehoods about the matter. Heck, they don't even have to actively lie about it anymore, they can just let doxastic inertia continue what they started. Want to do your duty in the wake of 9/11? Shopping not seem like quite the right thing? Then help spread the truth.
Most people who are honest and paying attention knew this long ago. The evidential situation was pretty darned clear even before the invasion. It's been clear since early on that there was no evidence of a significant, operational relationship between Saddam and al-Qaeda--and lots of reasons to think there was no such relationship. Unfortunately, the administration's propaganda campaign worked, and it stuck--an astonishing percentage of ordinary Americans still think we're in Iraq because Iraq was behind 9/11. If the truth about what happened ever sank in, there would be no possibility of resisting the public's demand for impeachment.
My policy: keep telling the truth. Take every opportunity to mention the facts to people who might benefit from them. Certain people are very happy that the truth of the situation never sank in, and they're content for the country to continue to believe falsehoods about the matter. Heck, they don't even have to actively lie about it anymore, they can just let doxastic inertia continue what they started. Want to do your duty in the wake of 9/11? Shopping not seem like quite the right thing? Then help spread the truth.
posted by Winston Smith at
1:48 PM
5 Comments:
Unfortunately, the administration's propaganda campaign worked, and it stuck--an astonishing percentage of ordinary Americans still think we're in Iraq because Iraq was behind 9/11. If the truth about what happened ever sank in, there would be no possibility of resisting the public's demand for impeachment.
Interesting A>B>C proposition, WS. A is questionable, B has some resonance in fact, C is pure assertion.
I've simply challenged the C in our previous exchange, asking for the best and strongest C, just one impeachable offense, that anyone could come up with, where the rubber meets the road.
This of course would carry the burden of proof.
Uh...the form of the above is not A --> B -->C. Once again, I'm foolishly tempted to try to reason with you on this... But no...I've learned my lesson.
Let me just make two small points.
First, it really does pay to read what someone wrote before launching into the inevitable, knee-jerk Bush-apologist response. Note that I was talking in this case about what the public would demand. I do not mention the legal point here.
Second, as I've noted before, to impeach is not to convict, but to investigate.
Third...and just because I'm curious...are you seriously denying that the administration engaged in a propaganda campaign to sell the war? And, in particular, to convince us of a link between Saddam and al Qaeda?
I just really can't tell whether you honestly deny that this happened or you are committed to the well-known smokescreen/foot-dragging strategy--that is, even when favored political group G obviously did something wrong, just drag your feet and obfuscate, pretending that what is clear is unclear. Since you basically refuse to acknowledge that the administration's actions were anything less than stellar in every way on this score, you'll forgive me for suspecting that it's the latter...
...but what am I doing??? Wasting electrons again...
(actually, to impeach is to bring certain kinds of charges...wrote in haste...)
Yes, I'm not interested in the rest, either.
What's your C, your best and strongest impeachment charge?
Unfortunately, the administration's propaganda campaign worked, and it stuck--an astonishing percentage of ordinary Americans still think we're in Iraq because Iraq was behind 9/11. If the truth about what happened ever sank in, there would be no possibility of resisting the public's demand for impeachment.
And for the record, that looked like the A>B>C argument. My mistake.
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