A Diplomat's Undiplomatic Truth

By Robert Scheer, AlterNet
July 8, 2003

They may have finally found the smoking gun that nails the culprit responsible for the Iraq war. Unfortunately, the incriminating evidence wasn't left in one of Saddam Hussein's palaces but rather in Vice President Dick Cheney's office.

Here is the rest of the story:
www.alternet.org...

Nobody wants to hear that. Bush is the "Golden Boy" who can do no wrong. If they have not heard the warnings in his biography before electing him president, they surely will not listen to this either. Bush supporters poo poo Clinton for being a draft dodger, even though Bush was a deserter, which is worse??

You actually have something to say about the article or did you reply to this thread just to rant?

The article is right on, but will not sway anyone. I am all for getting the truth out though.

I am not sure what to make of this. I feel pretty sure that this is bad for everyone connected to it but think I will delay any judgement until more facts come to light. As a preliminary hunch though I say that the worst case scenario for Bush is that he asks Cheney to not run again. He can always use plausible deniability to avoid being hung out to dry himself. And who knows, he may not have ever been told the Niger report was false.

Isn't it basically the president's responsibility to organize the administration and to ensure he sees/hears all relevant facts ? Can he claim " I wasnt able to organize a functioning administration but i'm sure a capable leader on a national and international scale ? " Would anyone buy into this ?

the american public will buy whatever is sold to them.

Originally posted by groingrinder
The article is right on, but will not sway anyone. I am all for getting the truth out though.

Tell me when Bush went awol?

He served in Texas as a part of the National Grd.
1968-1973

truth is what you say

Tyriffic

Bush was AWOL for most of 1972.

This site is heavily leading, but at least it has the pertinent military records in one place.

www.awolbush.com...

"Bush himself, in his 1999 autobiography, ''A Charge to Keep,'' recounts the thrills of his pilot training, which he completed in June 1970. ''I continued flying with my unit for the next several years,'' the governor wrote." [from the Boston Globe story]. In fact he was suspended from flying on August 1st, 1972.

Campaign officials claimed that Bush did not technically need to take his flight physical. "As he was not flying, there was no reason for him to take the flight physical exam," campaign spokesman Don Bartlett told the London Times in June [according to an article by Robert Rogers] . In fact the reason he did not fly after 1972 was because he was suspended for missing the physical.

"Bush's campaign aides have said he did not take the physical because he was in Alabama and his personal physician was in Houston." [Boston Globe article]. In fact as the Boston Globe goes on to state - "...flight physicals can be administered only by certified Air Force flight surgeons, and some were assigned at the time to Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, where Bush was living."

Bush responding to a question about his 1972 service stated: "I was there on temporary assignment and fulfilled my weekends at one period of time. I made up some missed weekends. I can't remember what I did, but I wasn't flying because they didn't have the same airplanes. I fulfilled my obligations"[from the Dallas Morning News].

In fact, according to the Boston Globe, records show that in 1973 thousands of hours were logged on the airplane in question at Bush�s unit. "If [Bush] had come back to Houston, I would have kept him flying the 102 until he got out," said [Major General] Hodges, a Bush admirer. "But I don't recall him coming back at all."

From the article:

"The world is outraged at this pattern of lies used to justify the Iraq invasion, but the U.S. public still seems numb to the dangers of government by deceit."

Indeed. Get rid of this lying pack of scumbags, now, and have them repay their salaries and any ill-gotten gains of war they have already profiteered with.

What would be the penalty in Texas for someone inciting mass murder ?

Quite likely you would find a law passed in 2000 preventing former Governors of Texas being tried for any such crime.

The same as the bilateral agreements being signed with countries around the world aiming to prevent any person in the Bush administration being put to trial at an International War Crimes Court.

The most effective avenue would have to be the Constitutional one, that the "Bush impeachers" are researching. The grounds are more likely to be treason.