Hi Mario, Just for the record, you and I are MERE messengers on this issue. So do not take ownership of the information. I placed for the Goanet readers, the 'Left wing / Paul Bagala' perspective and you placed the 'Right wing / Rush Limbaugh' perspective. So if any name-calling is warranted, please pass it on to the original authors who should get credit for their writings. Now goanetters have a balanced view of the issues which led to the Iraq war. This is the purpose of this forum; and not to mis-characterize others, and their efforts to share information with other Goanetters.
I read the "important resolution" that you posted, which was passed by US Congress. http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/bliraqreshouse.htm Most of the above resolution (voting for the war), referred to Iraq's stockpile of chemical weapons (CW) and biological weapons (BW); which as we all now know were never found in Iraq. Then there was the following in the resolution. "Whereas members of al Qaida, an organization bearing responsibility for attacks on the United States, its citizens, and interests, including the attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, are known to be in Iraq; Whereas Iraq continues to aid and harbor other international terrorist organizations, including organizations that threaten the lives and safety of United States citizens;..." It is interesting; the right wing when reminded that weapons of mass destruction (WMD) were never found in Iraq, refer to the al Qaida connection. When reminded of the lack of al Qaida connection, we are told, "number of reasons for the regime change in Iraq." The real half-a-brain are those, on both side of the political isle, who voted for the resolution, and the executive that prosecuted the resolution. In reality it is difficult to blame the Congress who was fed false information - be it about Niger-uranium (Valerie Palme) saga, weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and now the al Qaida connection. This connection has also been known to be false for quite some time. Bagala's article for the FIRST TIME tells us HOW and WHY the false information came into existence. Likely the Egyptians passed the same false information obtained by "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" to the British. Of interest in these revelations which are surfacing, the Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (torture) were first presented as a means to get information to foil another al Qaida attack on USA. The current controversy is generating a time-line of events. This time-line suggest the torture program was aimed to get confessions to justify the Iraq invasion. (see Maureen Dowd article in the New York Times). The only way to get a full and complete airing of the issues is for a "Truth Commission" which I support. Those Goanetters who support a Truth Commission and want to make their voice heard could sign a petition at: http://www.bushtruthcommission.com/forward (Please feel free to pass this petition-signing to your family and friends) I admire Goanetters who are 'walking encyclopedias'. Some proudly claim they can whip-up their long reply with attached information, "in 10 minutes flat", after reading a post. The only problem; their response is not necessarily a reply to the specific issue being discussed in the post. i.e they are reading information to match their own reservoir of knowledge, whether connected or not to the post they just read. Often the remarks are taken out of context (to what is written) and framed in the context the responder is familiar with or is promoting. This is my effort to keep Goanetters up-to-date with recently-unearthed historical facts. It may be painful for some to know about them. I thank you for giving me the opportunity to explain to the Goanetters more detailed facts about the mis-information that we-all were fed. Regards, GL ------------------- Mario Goveia Gilbert seems to suggest in his post that the relationship between Saddam and Al Qaeda was the key reason for the regime change in Iraq. This is itself false. There were a number of reasons for the regime change in Iraq that were listed in the joint U.S. House-Senate resolution in October 2002 which authorized the President of the U.S to use U.S. Armed Forces in Iraq. ------------------- Gilbert Lawrence The Saddam and Al Qaeda alleged links and training. The source of the information which led to the disastrous Iraq war. Answer: False information obtained by "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-begala/mr-cheney-you-did-not-kee_b_203013.html
