Maine Owl

Bush thinks attack on Iraq not for sure? Downing Street documents make this a lie

On January 17, 2003 there was probably some hope somewhere in my body that Bush would not go into Iraq. But I saw the craziness building, media dominated by war drums, and pure propaganda passing as news. I suppose I was buoyed slightly watching Brian Becker from the ANSWER coalition talk about that weekend's protest on the PBS News Hour (carefully "balanced," of course):

MARGARET WARNER: Brian Becker, why are you and your fellow demonstrators so opposed to this prospective war?

BRIAN BECKER: Well, hundreds of thousands of people will be in the streets tomorrow trying to preempt the preemptive war. The people of this country are skeptical; they're apprehensive about the consequences of the war. And frankly many millions of people believe the government is not telling the truth. They do not believe that Iraq poses a grave and imminent danger to the United States, that in fact this is a pretext designed to carry out an unstated but preplanned war policy with other goals in mind and it is not about disarmament; it's about the reconquest of this oil rich region. That's why people are saying it is not enough to send our sons and daughters to shed their blood or to kill others for the interest of big oil.

But deep inside I knew the war was inevitable, as the Downing Street Memos later would confirm.

It was about this time that sometimes the question was asked of the president, Ari Fleischer, or other officials about whether or not the president had decided for sure that there would be a war.

I can't seem to find it in the White House transcripts, but this news story from Voice of America (dated 1/16/03) circulated five years ago today:

President Bush says "time is running out" for Saddam Hussein to disarm. The President's comments came as U-N weapons inspectors in Iraq say they have found 11 empty chemical warheads. V-O-A's Scott Stearns has more from the White House.

Weapons inspectors in Baghdad say they found the empty warheads in "excellent condition" Thursday inside a series of military bunkers built in the late 1990s.

Inspectors collected samples from the 122-milimeter warheads that are designed to carry chemical agents. A U-N statement says a 12th warhead required further evaluation.

White House officials say they are waiting to hear more about the discovery, which came as President Bush told a rally in the eastern state of Pennsylvania that he is confronting Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to force him to disarm.

So far the evidence hasn't been very good that he is disarming. And time is running out. At some point in time, the United States' patience will run out. In the name of peace, if he does not disarm, I will lead a coalition of the willing to disarm Saddam Hussein.

While President Bush says he has still not decided whether to use force in Iraq, the build-up of U-S troops in the Gulf region is expected to be complete by mid-February.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer says a U-N report due January 27th will be an important part of deciding whether there will be war. Beyond that date, Mr. Fleischer told reporters, "events will dictate timetables."

U-N weapons inspectors say they need more time to complete their search for banned weapons. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei says he will ask the Security Council to extend the mandate of U-N inspectors in Iraq by several months.

U-S officials want that work finished sooner and are asking the Security Council to keep inspectors on a strict timetable. The Bush Administration is also resisting calls from European allies to seek a second resolution from the Security Council before using force against Iraq.

Chief U-N weapons inspector Hans Blix says Iraq must cooperate more actively if it wants to avoid war. Iraqi officials Thursday promised full cooperation and again said that their country is free of weapons of mass destruction. emphasis added

Many propaganda purposes are at work here. One, the empty chemical shells are blown way out of proportion. Also, the urgency against & push-back on the weapons inspections is in full bloom--they need more time but time is running out.

The notion that it was possible everything would be fine and there would not be a war was a bald-faced lie, completely exposed by the Downing Street documents:

SECRET AND STRICTLY PERSONAL - UK EYES ONLY
DAVID MANNING
From: Matthew Rycroft
Date: 23 July 2002
S 195 /02

C reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. The NSC had no patience with the UN route, and no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime's record. There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action.

Update: Added date and identifying information to quote above. As you can see, this secret document was written fully six months before President Bush "says he has still not decided whether to use force in Iraq."