Just stay with an answer already!
Now, from the Bush administration spin machine, reason #1573 for invading Iraq, on yesterday's Meet the Press:
MR. RUSSERT: Let me share with you some attitudes of Americans towards the war in Iraq, and here's our latest Wall Street Journal-NBC poll: 51 percent say removing Saddam Hussein was not worth it; 58 percent said we should reduce the number of U.S. troops; 56 percent feel less confident the war will be successful. Majorities now raising huge anxieties, expressing huge anxieties over the war in Iraq.
SEC'Y RICE: I'm quite certain, Tim, that when the American people see every day what they see on their screens, which is violence and, of course, the deaths of Americans and coalition forces, it's very difficult to take. We mourn every sacrifice. But the fact of the matter is that when we were attacked on September 11, we had a choice to make. We could decide that the proximate cause was al-Qaeda and the people who flew those planes into buildings and, therefore, we would go after al-Qaeda and perhaps after the Taliban and then our work would be done and we would try to defend ourselves.
Or we could take a bolder approach, which was to say that we had to go after the root causes of the kind of terrorism that was produced there, and that meant a different kind of Middle East. And there is no one who could have imagined a different kind of Middle East with Saddam Hussein still in power. I know it's difficult, but we have ahead of us the prospect, and I think the very good prospect of a foundation for a democratic and prosperous Iraq that can solve its differences by politics and compromise, that becomes an anchor for a Middle East that is changing.
Excuse me for a second (ducks out of room):
"THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU TOLD US BEFORE YOU WENT IN THERE! YOU SAID IT WAS WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION! YOU SAID NOTHING ABOUT DEMOCRATIZING THE MIDDLE EAST! YOU SAID NOTHING ABOUT THESE ROOT CAUSES! WILL YOU JUST GIVE US THE EVERLOVING TRUTH? WHY MUST YOU ALWAYS CHANGE YOUR REASONS EVERY TWO MONTHS? DON'T YOU HAVE THE COURAGE OF YOUR CONVICTIONS, OR IS IT THAT YOU JUST CAN'T EVER, EVER, ADMIT THAT YOU WERE WRONG, WRONG, WRONG ABOUT WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION?!?!"
(returns to room)
See, this is the thing that makes it almost impossible to stay supportive of this war effort. Every time we stand up for a reason, they change course and come up with a new reason. We did the right thing for Iraq for all the wrong reasons, and the administration makes it more obvious every day that they misled us on this war. I just don't get it, I don't get why they can't be honest about this. Pride kills, and their pride is continuing to kill soldiers, because they just won't admit they screwed up and they won't change course and try something new. We've been doing the same thing in Iraq for three years now, and it's not working. Germany and Japan weren't used to democracy either after World War II, and yet they adapted well to democracy. What's the problem here?
It's clear now. We're the problem. We've been inflexible, we've been ignorant of Iraqi culture, and our soldiers have been put in a terrible position. I met a Marine yesterday about to ship out there, and I shook his hand and thanked him for his bravery. He's going to Fallujah. He's a engineer who disarms mines and IED's. He's going into harm's way because we didn't secure weapons depots in 2003. He's going because we can't withdraw due to our inflexibility. He's going for a cause that we can't even figure out because this president and his cabinet cannot find it in themselves to just tell us the truth and tell us a plan. If we're sending people like that Marine, as the people who the President was elected to serve, we deserve an answer, not bullshit.
MR. RUSSERT: Let me share with you some attitudes of Americans towards the war in Iraq, and here's our latest Wall Street Journal-NBC poll: 51 percent say removing Saddam Hussein was not worth it; 58 percent said we should reduce the number of U.S. troops; 56 percent feel less confident the war will be successful. Majorities now raising huge anxieties, expressing huge anxieties over the war in Iraq.
SEC'Y RICE: I'm quite certain, Tim, that when the American people see every day what they see on their screens, which is violence and, of course, the deaths of Americans and coalition forces, it's very difficult to take. We mourn every sacrifice. But the fact of the matter is that when we were attacked on September 11, we had a choice to make. We could decide that the proximate cause was al-Qaeda and the people who flew those planes into buildings and, therefore, we would go after al-Qaeda and perhaps after the Taliban and then our work would be done and we would try to defend ourselves.
Or we could take a bolder approach, which was to say that we had to go after the root causes of the kind of terrorism that was produced there, and that meant a different kind of Middle East. And there is no one who could have imagined a different kind of Middle East with Saddam Hussein still in power. I know it's difficult, but we have ahead of us the prospect, and I think the very good prospect of a foundation for a democratic and prosperous Iraq that can solve its differences by politics and compromise, that becomes an anchor for a Middle East that is changing.
Excuse me for a second (ducks out of room):
"THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU TOLD US BEFORE YOU WENT IN THERE! YOU SAID IT WAS WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION! YOU SAID NOTHING ABOUT DEMOCRATIZING THE MIDDLE EAST! YOU SAID NOTHING ABOUT THESE ROOT CAUSES! WILL YOU JUST GIVE US THE EVERLOVING TRUTH? WHY MUST YOU ALWAYS CHANGE YOUR REASONS EVERY TWO MONTHS? DON'T YOU HAVE THE COURAGE OF YOUR CONVICTIONS, OR IS IT THAT YOU JUST CAN'T EVER, EVER, ADMIT THAT YOU WERE WRONG, WRONG, WRONG ABOUT WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION?!?!"
(returns to room)
See, this is the thing that makes it almost impossible to stay supportive of this war effort. Every time we stand up for a reason, they change course and come up with a new reason. We did the right thing for Iraq for all the wrong reasons, and the administration makes it more obvious every day that they misled us on this war. I just don't get it, I don't get why they can't be honest about this. Pride kills, and their pride is continuing to kill soldiers, because they just won't admit they screwed up and they won't change course and try something new. We've been doing the same thing in Iraq for three years now, and it's not working. Germany and Japan weren't used to democracy either after World War II, and yet they adapted well to democracy. What's the problem here?
It's clear now. We're the problem. We've been inflexible, we've been ignorant of Iraqi culture, and our soldiers have been put in a terrible position. I met a Marine yesterday about to ship out there, and I shook his hand and thanked him for his bravery. He's going to Fallujah. He's a engineer who disarms mines and IED's. He's going into harm's way because we didn't secure weapons depots in 2003. He's going because we can't withdraw due to our inflexibility. He's going for a cause that we can't even figure out because this president and his cabinet cannot find it in themselves to just tell us the truth and tell us a plan. If we're sending people like that Marine, as the people who the President was elected to serve, we deserve an answer, not bullshit.
posted by Thad at 10:10 AM
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