I thought Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction and according to many (some of who will either comment below or email me no doubt) was not pursuing nuclear weapons. Despite the intelligence of every Western country, Russia, China and the Middle East that Saddam had weapons and was pursuing nukes, I am told that Bush lied and unilaterally went to war in Iraq.
But what is this? In the Washington Post (a paper that has not been shy to express its liberal bias in its reporting) on an article on the Israeli bombing of a Syrian installation last month the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA, the U.N. group that kept the world apprised of Saddam’s continued failure to allow inspections in Iraq for the years leading up to the multi-nation invasion) says Saddam was pursuing nuclear weapons.
Upset that Israel unilaterally bombed the Syrian facility under construction that was strongly believed to become a nuclear reactor similar to North Korea’s, Mohamed El Baradei, Director of the IAEA (and Nobel Peace prize winner for those who hold that award to honor) states, “When the Israelis destroyed Saddam Hussein’s research nuclear reactor in 1981, the consequence was that Saddam Hussein pursued his program secretly. He began to establish a huge military nuclear program underground.”
What? Saddam established a huge military nuclear program underground? One that he would not allow UN inspectors to visit for years? What occurred in that underground program? How could he have such a program in place for 20 years in secret but El Baradei knows about it now? Is he just learning this, or is he the victim of false intelligence and lies from the Bush Administration, or is he making the statement just to back up his old pal George Bush? Of the options I doubt anyone at the U.N. considers Bush a pal or is willing to back him up—doesn’t go down well with the Chavezes and Ahmadinejads of the world.
Something fishy is going on here. I am not sure how, but evidently Karl Rove and Dick Cheney somehow have gotten to the Nobel Peace prize winning head of the IAEA to tell a major liberal newspaper that Saddam was actively and secretly pursuing nuclear weapons. Either that or Mr. El Baradei is stating what every world leader knew when the Senate voted authorization (including 28 Democrats who were for the war before they were against it) for the use of military force against Iraq. If the former, then I continue to be amazed at the power and influence Rove and Cheney hold over not only the Presidency but the entire Congress and now powerful United Nation’s agencies. If the latter, then I will continue to laugh at the shallowness or ignorance when I see a “Bush Lied” bumper sticker. If I ever see one that reads “The IAEA, Russians, French, British, Chinese, Saudis, the United States Congress and many others along with Bush lied,” I will honk and give the driver a grin and a thumbs up.
So there you have it, in what must be either a major slip-up for the leaders of the Bush Derangement Syndrome folks, or an honest statement from an impartial (hard to believe anyone at the U.N. is anything but negative towards the Bush Administration) leader of the United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency. In reality it is probably both and the publisher is now screaming at the editor and writer of the WaPo article for printing something not in the anti-Bush/Republican script.
Given the Left’s politicizing of the war once Saddam was removed from power and the immediate negativism and constant declaration of disaster, deceit, and murderous aspect of the Iraq War, in retrospect does anyone not feel that the situation in Iraq would have been considerably better and heading to a more positive conclusion if all those who knew what El Baradei states in the Washington Post had worked together to construct and support a positive conclusion? Had the major news media—who at the time editorialized on the necessity of removing Saddam, and the twenty eight Democratic Senators who voted for the military to remove him—not played to the politics of the extreme and instead held to their positions, would there not have been more progress in getting the factions in Iraq to work together post-Saddam? I will take the criticism and lengthy diatribes that are no doubt to follow, but I strongly believe that the divisiveness and politicizing of the war by the left and the Democrats has contributed greatly to the continued problems in Iraq—and the leaders of al Qaida and other terrorist groups knew that and counted on it.
Below are links to the Washington Post article and the Joint Resolution authorizing the invasion of
Washington Post article
Text of joint resolution authorizing use of military force againt
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