http://dailynews.att.net/cgi-bin/new...050112&src=abc

Bush: Iraq Invasion Worth It Despite No Trace of WMD

The invasion of Iraq, which ousted Saddam Hussein and has cost the lives of some 1,300 U.S. military personnel and billions of dollars, was "absolutely" worth it, despite the absence of any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, President Bush told ABC News' Barbara Walters in an exclusive interview that will air this Friday.

The White House acknowledged today that there is no longer an active search for Iraqi weapons. The final report from chief U.S. weapons inspector Charles Duelfer, due out next month, has concluded that "the former regime had no formal written strategy or plan for the revival of WMD."

The Bush administration does not hold out hopes that any weapons will ever be found.

Duelfer's predecessor David Kay reached the same conclusion a year ago. "It's taken them another year, and in fact we were right a year ago. There were no weapons there," Kay said in response to Duelfer's announcement.

Bush told Walters, "I felt like we'd find weapons of mass destruction -- like many here in the United States, many around the world. The United Nations thought he had weapons of mass destruction. So, therefore: one, we need to find out what went wrong in the intelligence gathering. ... Saddam was dangerous and the world is safer without him in power."

When asked if the war was worth it even if there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Bush responded, "Oh, absolutely."

Saddam insisted he had no weapons of mass destruction, and U.N. inspectors failed to uncover them. But the Bush administration was adamant that Saddam was deceiving the international community. The administration justified its decision to wage war on Iraq largely on its contention that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.

Kay estimates that more than $1 billion and countless man hours were spent looking for weapons.

Today House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said, "Now that the search is finished, President Bush needs to explain to the American people why he was so wrong."

The 1,700-member Iraq Survey Group, a U.S. team responsible for the weapons search, is now tasked with what commanders had long wanted them to do -- gather intelligence about the real threat now in Iraq: the insurgents.

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<<Cheer up, the worst is yet to come.>>

The U.S. ousted a dictator that was sitting on top of the world's second largest oil reserves. The war in Iraq was, by all means, a brilliant geopolitical play, even managing to dupe the American public. Even amidst this fallout, the country hardly appears to be raising an eyebrow.

If only Americans understood the importance of black gold and how it effects global politics. Iraq was merely the U.S. asserting its global power to secure resources for itself. But unlike the Roman and British Empires, the U.S. doesn't like to admit that it plays these games.

We feed ourselves these stories of how the war is about protecting us from mustard gas attacks and liberating the poor Iraqi people. It makes the bitter pill--that we're selfishly playing geopolitical chess--easier to swallow.

But I can't blame the government. After all, I use as much resources as the next American. Having 5% of the global population and using 25% of the world's resources has a price, especially now that China and India are industrializing. Survival of the fittest my friends.

War is, and always will be, about one simple thing: preserving a society's way of life. Our way of life just happens to require a tremendous amount of resources....

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Proudly a "South Park Republican"

... all the Bush supporters gnashing their teeth over Dan Rather "misleading" us, but they see absolutely nothing wrong when Bush does it.

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<<Cheer up, the worst is yet to come.>>

Gian, I'm of the same mind with most of what you said above. However I think the USA could have secured Iraq in a more cost effective way.

It's too bad the american masses can't handle the truth and prefer to be lied to and coddled like little children.

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"When I'm in command, every mission is a suicide mission!" -Capt. Zapp Branigan
The United Church of the Latter Day Tangential Tarts

I have been saying the same thing in the Dan Rather thread. It is amazing.

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"George W. Bush surrounds himself with smart people the way a hole surrounds itself with a donut." —Dennis Miller

www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net

As you veteran posters know, I'm a firm believer in Peak Oil and how it will be the greatest challenge the industrial world will face.

If you're interested in oil politics, Ted, then check out that site. It changed my entire outlook on global politics.

Peak Oil doesn't get a lot of press for many reasons (independent outlets consistently list it on their "underreported" stories list). But there are a lot of very credible people who believe in Peak Oil (it's not just another Y2K panic). Indeed, one would find it difficult to write a rebuttal to Matt Savinar's argument on the website.

If Peak Oil was known--if the floodgates about how global production can't increase much more were opened--the American public would panic. The economy would suffer. It'd be a premature disaster, which isn't good for anyone. That's why Peak Oil is off the public's radar.

And the very magnitude of Peak Oil instantly causes people to deny it, mostly out of fear. Sort of like a defense mechanism.

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Proudly a "South Park Republican"

Thanks for posting the link, Gian. It's a good informative read. Highly recommend others read it.

Throughout history, humans have always been fighting over limited natural resources... land, water, slaves, salt, iron, coal, oil etc. Access to resources is what defines a nation's growth and nothing has changed. All this sugarcoated talk of democracy, WMD, and setting other peoples free is fine for the masses, but it's ok by me if the govt just flatout said "we are going in there and secure for ourselves a stable source of oil".

It's too bad that the current administration did not play their cards better. IMO it was a strategic mistake to invade Iraq before the Al'Qaeda was destroyed. It's made it much harder for the USA and our allies.

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"When I'm in command, every mission is a suicide mission!" -Capt. Zapp Branigan
The United Church of the Latter Day Tangential Tarts

I don't want to change the subject, but I doubt that peak oil will cause the problems that some people believe are in our future. It is highly unlikely that oil will go from $60.00 a barrel to $600.00 overnight. Instead, oil will rise slowly but surely and as the price of oil rises, other sources will become economically viable, and more money will be pumped into alternatives.

Few people will invest huge sums of money in alternatives when oil is $20 a barrel. We have seen a large increase in talk and investment in alternatives and the increase in oil prices have been mild.

There will probably not be a replacement for oil. And oil will be with us for many decades to come. But different alternatives will pick up the slack more and more and oil will become far less ubiquitous than it is now.

In short, I would not advise stocking up on can goods.

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"George W. Bush surrounds himself with smart people the way a hole surrounds itself with a donut." —Dennis Miller

Perhaps the rest of the country was right an you were the one who was wrong. Maybe no one was duped. Is that possible?

If only liberals understood that Iraq accounts for a vert small percentage of our oil...I am not even sure if it balances what we have already paid into this war. This was not a cheap war.

If the US played these games, we would not be installing democracies, now would we? A pliant dictator would serve those ends much better.

Dan rather was supposed to be an unbiased journalist. Thats the difference.

Bush is an elected official, and answerable to us. Dan Rather is not. We re-elected Bush and the congress that suppored him. That = consent of the masses. Bush did not do anything we did not consent to.

People will not tolerate wars like this simply to keep oil at $20/barrel. Elected officials will not risk losing an election to keep oil at $20/barrel. It is not worth it for us to spend billions on a war just to keep oil at $20/barrel.

Oil prices would not go up much anyway, since Iraq accoutns for a small fraction of our total oil use. Prices going up 5% or even 10% are not woth billions spent on the war and all the negative press it generates for the elected officials. This liberal conspiracy theory makes no logical sense.

logical sense?

Have you even figured it out yet where the buck stops? We had a long discussion about that a few weeks ago. Once you figure it out then perhaps we can discuss what makes sense.

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"When I'm in command, every mission is a suicide mission!" -Capt. Zapp Branigan
The United Church of the Latter Day Tangential Tarts