Former Bush Official: We Went Into Iraq Because 'We Were Looking For Somebody's Ass To Kick'

[Mayhem]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/20/bush-official-iraq_n_4132719.html

New York Times reporter Peter Baker is out with a new book that reportedly reveals some eyebrow-raising details about the Iraq War.

A senior official from former President George W. Bush's administration is quoted in “Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House” saying American troops went into Iraq because the U.S. was looking for a fight.

"The only reason we went into Iraq, I tell people now, is we were looking for somebody’s ass to kick. Afghanistan was too easy," the anonymous official said, according to Politico.

Politico also reports the book details the differences in Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. The two reportedly "were on opposite sides of almost every major issue" when they left office in 2009.

According to David Frum's review of the book, Baker features stories not just of Bush and Cheney, but also of former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld; L. Paul Bremer, the Iraqi occupation administrator; and Gen. George Casey, the Army chief of staff.

Read more from Politico here, and read an exceprt of Baker's book from ABC News here.

For the record, I wrestled a bit about whether to post this. I'm not fond of anonymous officials making accusations this big. But it is a book, HuffPost got this story from Politico, and I have a very easy time believing it. And keep in mind, I voted for Bush both times, and was initially in favor of the Iraq Invasion (partially because I bought the WMD thing hook, line and sinker).

 

[Mariahxxx]

Bush Cheney lied to the American people from day one. they created the veil of secrecy and the violations of the rights of Americans on so many levels. They signed laws that allowed companies to compile and sell data on every American to anyone with the money to pay, including the US government. They conned us into believing in the WMD bullshit and beat the Osama drum for 6 years then suddenly Bush said "He's not someone I think about" even though he looked right into the teleprompter and vowed his #1 goal as president was to bring him to justice.

He went to New Orleans after Katrina and vowed to rebuild the city and to this day more than 50% of the drinking water has yet to be established, the hospitals and schools remain boarded up and an entire square mile of housing projects that weren't even touched by the storm remain closed and fenced off to this day. I know because I just saw it with my own eyes.

So to believe this story is yet another Bush person coming out against him. If you have too many people saying you are a duck there's a pretty good chance there's a reason you need to believe them.

 

[Mr. Daystar]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/20/bush-official-iraq_n_4132719.html



For the record, I wrestled a bit about whether to post this. I'm not fond of anonymous officials making accusations this big. But it is a book, HuffPost got this story from Politico, and I have a very easy time believing it. And keep in mind, I voted for Bush both times, and was initially in favor of the Iraq Invasion (partially because I bought the WMD thing hook, line and sinker).

So you never went into a bar, just looking for an ass to kick? I realize we are talking about a much more nefarious thing, and a thing that cost billions, and cost the lives of thousands...but an ass needed to be kicked. Me? I think we should have been carpet bombing the fuck out of Somalia, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia, long before we thought about anyone else...but lets face it, Jr. had to save face for daddy's fuck up...and he did fuck up. He should have let Schwarzkopf roll right over the fucking asshole in the first war...just like we should have let Patton roll over Stalin.

 

[Master Roshi]

there are plans in place that involve gathering, controlling and profiting from massive amounts of natural resources and establishing private central banks throughout 100 percent of the known world and whatever measures that have to be taken to complete these tasks will be implemented and carried out, no matter how many lives are lost, the first act that was taken by the "rebels" when Gaddafi was taken out was the establishment of a central bank of Libya, there are currently 4 countries that do not have a central bank that is controlled by the conglomerate of mega banks and those are Syria, Iran, North Korea and Cuba

 

[Jack Davenport]

He went to New Orleans after Katrina and vowed to rebuild the city and to this day more than 50% of the drinking water has yet to be established, the hospitals and schools remain boarded up and an entire square mile of housing projects that weren't even touched by the storm remain closed and fenced off to this day. I know because I just saw it with my own eyes.

You know something? I know that conservatives are outnumbered on this board and someone that sides with the left will always get a pass but when I see people repping you for stupid shit like this when every post Sam Fisher made somebody was ready to pounce on him I just have to laugh. The war is over Bush is no longer President so get over it! Now the real question is since Obama was elected to fix all of Bush's fuckups, why hasn't he helped New Orleans 5 Years AFTER BUSH LEFT OFFICE?

 

[Master Roshi]

the best thread Mariah started was on The private federal reserve because that is where the action is, all this arguing over left vs right is pointless IMO, for example, that dirt bag Timothy Geithner was the president of the federal reserve bank of NY when Bush was president, then when Obama got elected, he swore Geithner in as the US treasury secretary, most of the positions that deal with the nations' monetary system have for the most part stayed the same, if Obama were real he would have cleaned house and brought some people in who could have attempted to make some real positive changes to the nation's economy, just more of the same nonsense IMO

 

[Mr. Daystar]

You know something? I know that conservatives are outnumbered on this board and someone that sides with the left will always get a pass but when I see people repping you for stupid shit like this when every post Sam Fisher made somebody was ready to pounce on him I just have to laugh. The war is over Bush is no longer President so get over it! Now the real question is since Obama was elected to fix all of Bush's fuckups, why hasn't he helped New Orleans 5 Years AFTER BUSH LEFT OFFICE?

Because he's no better then any of the rest of the lying, self serving, thieving leeches. He could have fixed the patriot act, he could have pulled us out of the Middle East, he could have fixed the economy...instead he spent his first term shoving a fucked up health care system down our throats, and he'll spend the second term, defending it, going after guns, and telling everyone how great the Democratic candidate will be.

 

[Master Roshi]

Hegelian Dialectic in maximum overdrive SMH

 

[mongo18]

The former director general of the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons claims he was ousted in a US led coup just prior to the invasion of Iraq and before he could conduct inspections in Iraq looking for WMDs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/14/w...dog-was-seen-as-an-obstacle-in-iraq.html?_r=0

 

[lurkingdirk]

We need some historic distance before we start making absolute statements on things of this magnitude. The war in Iraq will get a huge amount of scrutiny, and I for one am going to resist jumping on any one side. I know I have my own opinions, and I think most people here can guess what they are, but in the current partisan quagmire in which we are stuck...

Yeah. We need some historic distance before we can trust any study or statement that is released.

:2 cents:

 

[zeeblofowl_1969]

You know something? I know that conservatives are outnumbered on this board and someone that sides with the left will always get a pass but when I see people repping you for stupid shit like this when every post Sam Fisher made somebody was ready to pounce on him I just have to laugh. The war is over Bush is no longer President so get over it! Now the real question is since Obama was elected to fix all of Bush's fuckups, why hasn't he helped New Orleans 5 Years AFTER BUSH LEFT OFFICE?

Because its been sooooo expensive to try and correct all of Bush's other fuck ups.

 

[Straight Shooter]

You know something? I know that conservatives are outnumbered on this board and someone that sides with the left will always get a pass but when I see people repping you for stupid shit like this when every post Sam Fisher made somebody was ready to pounce on him I just have to laugh. The war is over Bush is no longer President so get over it! Now the real question is since Obama was elected to fix all of Bush's fuckups, why hasn't he helped New Orleans 5 Years AFTER BUSH LEFT OFFICE?

Over 4,000 U.S serviceman have lost their lives in Iraq. Sorry if that's not something we can just "get over"

 

[Jack Davenport]

Because its been sooooo expensive to try and correct all of Bush's other fuck ups.

Yeah I asked the magic question didn't I? If somebody is going to start complaining about things way overdue for an American city, let's point the finger at the person that is in power and has been for the LAST 5 YEARS instead of the person no longer in power.

 

[Jack Davenport]

Over 4,000 U.S serviceman have lost their lives in Iraq. Sorry if that's not something we can just "get over"

My dad died as a result of military incompetance. I had to learn to get over it. How many family members or friends did you lose in that war. In Vietnam alone I lost an uncle and a cousin. Your mourning for American soldiers is very touching Do you get that all teared up over partial birth abortion victims?

 

[Mayhem]

My dad died as a result of military incompetance. I had to learn to get over it. How many family members or friends did you lose in that war. In Vietnam alone I lost an uncle and a cousin. Your mourning for American soldiers is very touching Do you get that all teared up over partial birth abortion victims?

Y'know, you really have honed your talent for responding to perfectly valid points with perfectly irrelevant bullshit.

 

[Sicario]

Seems about right. These type of books usually wait 6-7 years after that president has left office. Obama's dirty laundry will probably get published by 2020.

 

[Jack Davenport]

Y'know, you really have honed your talent for responding to perfectly valid points with perfectly irrelevant bullshit.

Really now! One man's Huffington Post article is another man's irrelevance.

And yes we can disagree with each other without it reaching previous DEFCON levels. Whether you think it is relevant or not doesn't really matter to me no more than my view of what constitutes human life matters to you. See how that works?

 

[Mayhem]

Really now! One man's Huffington Post article is another man's irrelevance.

And yes we can disagree with each other without it reaching previous DEFCON levels. Whether you think it is relevant or not doesn't really matter to me no more than my view of what constitutes human life matters to you. See how that works?

As stated, it's a Politico article picked up by HuffPost. And for a guy that mocks it so much, you seem to respond to HuffPost quite a bit.

If you want to talk about late term abortions, no one is stopping you from making as many threads about it as you want. This is a thread about Bush's invasion of Iraq under false pretenses. Let's stick to the case at hand counselor.

 

[HappyHapyJoyJoy]

You know something? I know that conservatives are outnumbered on this board and someone that sides with the left will always get a pass but when I see people repping you for stupid shit like this when every post Sam Fisher made somebody was ready to pounce on him I just have to laugh. The war is over Bush is no longer President so get over it! Now the real question is since Obama was elected to fix all of Bush's fuckups, why hasn't he helped New Orleans 5 Years AFTER BUSH LEFT OFFICE?

 

[assari]

The war coast billions so even America does not do it just for fun.