U.S. 'Almost All Wrong' on WMD

Washington Post: Report on Iraq Contradicts Bush Administration Claims

The 1991 Persian Gulf War and subsequent U.N. inspections destroyed Iraq's illicit weapons capability and, for the most part, Saddam Hussein did not try to rebuild it, according to an extensive report by the chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq that contradicts nearly every prewar assertion made by top administration officials about Iraq.

My fellow New Patriots. If you're like me, you protested this war. You questioned the motives, you questioned the flimsy evidence, you condemned the Bush Doctrine. You withstood scorn from those ignorant frothing "patriots" eager to kill those towelheads and silence dissent. You were deeply saddened at this pivotal downturn in America's history.

As we hastened to war, ill-equipped and unprepared for the long-term outcomes, Howard Zinn spoke these words:

This is a shameful moment in our history, attacking a nation that has not attacked us or anyone else. Many around the world feel President Bush is a greater threat to peace than Saddam Hussein. We want revenge for terrorism, but WAR IS TERRORISM. We are going to devastate the people of Iraq, that is certain. Morally you can't go along with this... people in our armed forces will die because Bush has grandiose ambitions for power in the world -- for oil, for the U.S. desire to expand its power -- those are not good reasons to die.

The invasion of Iraq has come at a devastating cost: A moral, human, and financial cost we and our children must bear for years to come. All because of this Bush Administration's reprehensible and unforgivable deception.

Yes, Iraq will have some sort of bittersweet election, in whatever parts of the country are safe. It's our duty now to help see those elections through and return the country to the Iraqi people. I say bittersweet, because by many other measures (like, say, whether your family is alive) Iraq is worse off. The American people would not have endorsed putting our troops in harm's way, for an unspecified length of time at enormous cost, so that we could plunge Iraq into chaos and make us less safe. We went because this Bush Administration gripped us tight in its fist, whispering propaganda through clenched teeth... "9/11... Nuclear clouds.... smoking gun... too late."

The Bush Administration has no more teeth. Its fist can no longer stifle liquid truth. The neocon empire is crumbling from within. Friends, the tide has turned. Under John Kerry, we'll remain strong and watchful, but we'll hear the chime of words too long forgotten upon our weary ears: Diplomacy, cooperation, hope.

Peace.