(guest blogged by Bill W.)
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How much money does Bush think a US soldier’s life is worth? How much money does Bush think the lives of our allies’ soldiers or innocent Iraqis are worth?
As we’re finding out, not very much. On March 17, 2003 President Bush issued the warning: “Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours. Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict commenced at a time of our choosing ,” yet now thanks to a transcript leaked to the Spanish newspaper El Pais, we learn that more than three weeks prior to that Bush had told former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar that “The Egyptians are speaking to Saddam Hussein. It seems he’s indicated he would be prepared to go into exile if he’s allowed to take $1 billion …” When confronted about the leaked transcript yesterday, Whitehouse spokeswoman Dana Perino did not dispute its accuracy.
Just last week we learned from former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan that the real reason behind the war in Iraq was oil , and now we are finding out that the entire war could have been averted for letting him get away with $1 billion. That’s just than one tenth of 1% of what this insane invasion and occupation of Iraq, that continues claim the lives of our country’s bravest men and women, has now been forcast to cost. Think about that just for a second. Every single death, Iraqi and American coalition alike, could have been saved and Bush could have had Saddam’s oil, but apparently he didn’t even seriously consider it. Topping that, he then lied in public to the entire world about it just so he could have his war regardless. How’s that for compassionate conservatism?
Filed Under: Guest Post, Intelligence Gathering, Iraq, The Situation Room/Wolf Blitzer
10 Trackbacks To “Saddam Wanted Out, Bush Lied About It“
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Because Bush wanted what every leader wants, a small victorious war.
Better a trillion for war than a single penny for Saddam…unless he’s fighting the Iranians.
This should be made widely exposed and understood, but will one politician make this an issue, I bet not.
All because Bush wanted to one-up his Daddy! No other reason!
What a goddamned waste!
I swear, the public is so saturated with Republican and Bush Administration corruption and wrongdoing that even if we had hard evidence that aliens abducted Bush’s brain and it was all over the news, it wouldn’t make a difference. whoops, sorry to be so cynical!
Yeah, but Commander CockPiece wanted to be a ‘War Preznint’….sure hope all the fat, dumb fucks who voted for this ‘piece of human waste’, way to go Maradona, are real, real happy with this.
And ya know what?
The worst hasn’t happened yet.
Speechless. I’m simply speechless.
Think of all the lives that could have been saved.
Fight Media Consolidation, everyone, this story should be MUCH more huge in the US than it is.
Oh, that silly Wolf Blitzer! “…another what if story…” Good stuff!
Here’s a funny what if : What if we invade Iraq with too few troops- troops who are under-equipped at that- then decide to stick around fer another 5 or 6 years while a civil war- with divisions along so many fault lines ya can’t possibly count ‘em all!- boils over. Imagine all of the wacky possibilities!
But it could never happen. Right, Wolf?
George Bush is no better than a cheap assassin hiding behind a fake mission. He’s no better than Saddam, and it’s just a damn shame that millions will suffer for Bush’s arrogance. History will remember him as a spoiled, reckless mass murderer.
OK, we’re nothing but slime now (i.e., America) in the eyes of the rest of the world.
Now the rest of the world is getting the truth.
This was an attack on humanity for the benefit of oil companies and related parties.
Now is the time for the rest of the world to rise up and charge the United States with crimes against humanity.
When are we going to see this happen?
Or is the whole world complicit?
Why am I unsurprized? Yawn.
Oh, and I believe the proper term is codpiece, not cockpiece. But, perhaps it was meant that way. Every cock has his dughill.
Just when you think you’ve seen the lowest most disgusting thing a human can do, Bush goes one lower. Why this festering piece of filth has not been impeached and imprisoned is beyond me.
Cheney wanted the oil, Bush wanted revenge, a perfect fit.
Bush is a psychotic coward of a worthless frat-pledge. That’s why he did this. He and his Administration; I am not letting those criminals off the hook by pinning it all on one moneky, much as they’d like us to do just that.
ckerst @ 13:
In our hearts, I think we know the answer. Or have some ideas, at least.
Eh, well, he was a different, simpler kind of stupid than you’re accusing him of, here. I’m sure he didn’t think the war would cost as much as it has, so $1 billion would’ve seemed extravagant at the time. And really, how could he ever just give the guy a billion bucks to walk?
It’s like when people say “just think of all the _____ we could have done with 500 billion dollars”, but the truth is, absent the war, you’d never be able to go to congress and say “hey, we’re gonna spend 500 billion dollars on _____”.
I agree the war’s been a total waste of money and effort, but comparing it to what we could have done with the money is largely a false analogy.
This war was never about Saddam, he was just a convenient boogy man, this was is and has always been about theft. and Bush and Cheney and their cohorts have stolen BILLIONS of dollars. It also has been about developing and training a civilian army, call them the Blackwater SS. That is what this war is and always has been about.
Wow.
It doesn’t say WE would give Saddam a billion, it says he would be allowed to TAKE a billion with him when he left. In other words, he wanted to be able to take some of HIS LOOT WITH HIM. It wouldnt have cost us a PENNY.
The response to this on the right will be:
“So you think we should be blackmailed by brutal dictators who support terrorists?!!??! Why do you hate America?!?! 9/11!!!”
Count on it.
No, Lollimom. the rest of the world isn’t complicit. Chirac of France refused to go with this charade, and France was labeled in the U.S. media - remember “Freedom Fries”. The United Nations refused to go along and they were labeled cowards and useless. Those countries who were not complicit, but who have natural resources that Corporate America covets, refused to go along, but have seen what this administration does when they are thwarted in their global corporate imperialism. The U.S. still has the mightiest military machine in the world, the most nukes, and a nutjob with his finger on the red button. Strangely, Bush has undone what Reagan made his name on. Reagan’s legacy rests on the dissolution of the soviet union. Bush has overseen the re-emergence of the Russian Bear and has sold America to the Chinese. Strange times we live in.
Why is Michael O’Hanlon allowed to comment on this? He is just another Bush mouthpiece not an “expert.”
spinn @ 17:
You’re entirely missing the point.
We were not told “he says he’ll leave, but only if he can take a billion with him, we are not willing to accept this.”
We were told “He won’t leave.”
The dishonesty used to sell this invasion betrays a dishonesty about the real motivations for this invasion.
GonzoD @ 5:
Nope. Not because of his father. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is about world domination which is why they are taking the Constitution away, so we can’t interfere with their plans.
I guess this means childrens can’t learn after all.
aquarius2 @ 14:
Exactamundo! There’s nothing else to it.
Why am I suspicious about the “and be allowed to take his weapons of mass destruction information with him” part?
Not surprised, of course, but I am speechless. Bush could have had everything he wanted without going to war. Now this has to be an impeachable offense!
Uh. Wow.
I just read the actual article.
Bush looks bad enough without discrediting yourselves by using selective quotes.
“The Egyptians are speaking to Saddam Hussein. It seems he’s indicated he would be prepared to go into exile if he’s allowed to take $1 billion and all the information he wants about weapons of mass destruction,”
Sure, its probably not TRUE, but don’t resort to selective editing to spin the story.
“”The Egyptians are speaking to Saddam Hussein. It seems he’s indicated he would be prepared to go into exile if he’s allowed to take $1 billion and all the information he wants about weapons of mass destruction”
That latter part is kind of a curious thing to leave out of the original post.
Is anyone surprised by this?
Haven’t you all seen “Why We Fight”?
Eisenhower wasn’t kidding in his farewell address when he warned us about the military-industrial-complex.
These vampires mean bloodsucking business.
I guess it simply didn’t turn up in the American media, but in Europe, at the time, Saddam’s request to be allowed to go into exile in a country which would accept him and to be allowed to take $1 billion of his money was quite widely publicized, so this revelation was no revelation to me.
Craig @ 20:
…or a LIFE.
instead, the rich are getting richer, the poor are dying and the rest are paying through the nose in every direction.
I hate these criminals in DC.
don’t kid yourselves, bush is an insane megalomaniac on a par with the worst dictators that the world has ever seen.
More lies of the Bush Administration:
WMD’s - check
Iraq war would pay for itself
Tax cuts would pay for themselves
No Child Left Behind working marvelously - check
Katrina Response - check
Pat Tillman - check
Jessica Lynch - check
Iraqi bodycounts - check
Quality Medical care for veterans - check
Didn’t out a CIA officer and her cohorts - check
Enron - check
Election fraud - check
Federal Prosecutors scandal - check
9-11 - We got the truth on this one.
I have a hard time believing this is only about oil and revenge, given the mountain of domestic despotism that has drowned our sense of historical context.
The worst is yet to come. We all know it.
Tony @ 31:
If by ‘curious,’ you mean, obviously deliberate, then agreed.
‘It would have been cheaper to just buy the damn oil’ - heard on Bill Maher…PJ Rourke?
“Every single death, Iraqi and American coalition alike, could have been saved and Bush could have had Saddam’s oil, but apparently he didn’t even seriously consider it.”
…and saved a ton of money, too. Enough to fund a smooth transition in Iraq, train an army (in peacetime), organize a government, create a constitution, hold elections, with far less death-related consequences.
And funded, say, a task force to find Saddam and recover the $ 1 billion. Or Osama. Whichever. And still have money left.
But see #18, they stood to make far larger personal fortunes doing it this way.
And look, they lost eight or ten billion dollars cash (that we know of) and it’s no big deal.
xoites defends Constitution @ 25:
I have to disagree on that one. Bush jr was so pissed when Daddy lost to Clinton, he vowed that if he ever got to the White House, he’d get a 2nd term and show up his Daddy!
Poppy had trouble with that “vision thing” and junior wasn’t going to let that be his downfall. He was going big!
Gekke @ 35:
Trust me. I am well aware.
Now do you think they could have perpetrated 9/11?
I have said this before, the night the US started bombing Iraq or the night that the US bombed Iraq before the official start of the war, remember when we were told that we had credible evidence on Saddam’s whereabouts,there were reports on ABC & NBC that Saddam wanted to surrender. He tried calling the US embassies in a few middle east countries but our embassies would not take the call.
If you don’t believe me watch, again, the network coverage of the first bombings. It was reported several times….never since.
GonzoD @ 41:
Well, i have to disagree with you!
In 1994 Bush walked out of a meeting with Paul Wolfowitz and PNAC and said OUTLOUD that if he was ever the President of the United States he would invade Iraq. In my opinion that is both the why and how he got to be appointed in the first place.
BDM @ 43:
No.
Numerous reports on this 1 billion dollar amount for Saddam imply or come right out and say that the USA would need to give Saddam this $ in order for him to leave.
But the deal would have been that Saddam would be allowed to take $1 Billion of Iraqi money. Money that probably ended up in corrupt hands anyway, or was used to buy weapons to kill Americans.
I think this is another important point in this story.