It still works 23 years on
Before the [Iraq] war, Bush repeatedly stated that Iraq possessed WMDs and posed an imminent threat to the world. In October 2002, Bush claimed Saddam Hussein had a "massive stockpile" of biological weapons.In December 2002, he stated the U.S. did not know if Iraq had a nuclear weapon, despite intelligence suggesting they likely did not.In February 2003, he declared that Hussein's "game of deception" was over and that he would be stopped from arming terrorists with chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons.On 17 March 2003, Bush issued a final ultimatum, stating intelligence indicated the regime continued to possess and conceal lethal weapons. Post-Invasion AdmissionsAfter no WMD stockpiles were discovered, Bush's rhetoric shifted toward defending the invasion on other grounds while acknowledging the intelligence failure. In his memoir Decision Points, Bush wrote, "No one was more shocked and angry than I was when we didn't find the weapons".He admitted to having a "sickening feeling" every time he thought about the failure to find WMDs.Despite the lack of WMDs, Bush maintained in 2004 that the world was "better off without Saddam Hussein in power" and that he would have made the same decision to invade based on what he knew then."What experience and history teach is this, — that peoples and governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it". (Hegel)
David Ainsworth ● 9h1 Comments ● 8h