No, you got it pretty much right. The only tidbits I would add is that because of the Suni-Shia animosity, and their total lack of any democratic institutions or principles, we would have to be willing to fully commit to Iraq for decades. That’s something no democracy has ever attempted for good reason…democracies grow weary of war very quickly, especially ones where they are the occupying power.
The other tidbit is that I think it had a lot less to do with Cheney’s obsession of Vietnam, and more to do with PNAC’s obsession with seizing and securing oil and a strategic base from which to further expand their empire. As for Rumsfield, remember he was quoted early in the Afghanistan war of wanting to move to Iraq because “there are no targets in Afghanistan. All’s we are doing is moving rocks around. There are plenty of target to hit in Iraq though”. Sort of the guy looking for his keys under the street lamp even though he lost them down the street because…the light is better.
“Christie said that he believed former President George W. Bush did make “the best decision he could at the time” given the information coming from the U.S. intelligence community and the situation on the ground in Iraq.”
Well, no…no he didn’t.
This was a man who literally didn’t know the difference between a Shiite and a Sunni and had to have the word “neocon” reduced to “Israel friendly” by James Baker to have the slightest grasp of the Mideast dynamics. So unprepared and incurious was he that delegated all the decisions to a coterie of advisers and Dick Cheney so he could focus on the “Big Picture” which, to him, was smirking and swaggering as a way to project strength and decisive leadership.
" (T)he information coming from the U.S. intelligence community" was a mix of honest assessment and manufactured- stovepiped- horseshit serving an agenda. I’m just a damned fool with a keyboard and I knew what was going on at the time yet we’re still being sold this nonsense that it was just a legitimate misinterpretation of conflicting intel.
We all know this now and for Christie say otherwise is just utter bullshit.
I’m honestly surprised to run into someone else who remembers the PNAC. But you’re right to include that as well. The problem is that these idiots never studied History (which I have, extensively). Empires are rarely democratic in nature. In order to do that, one needs a national mentality very much like Britain in the Victorian Era…and even that was more of an Oligarchy than a true Democracy as the rich held a lot of power at that point.
Christie sees a chance with the implosion of Jebya. There is blood in the water and Christie is going in for the kill. Of course, he doesn’t have a chance, but this was too “tasty” to let pass.
This is a somewhat disingenuous comment. The Bush administration cooked the intelligence. Many in Congress were willing to give Bush the benefit of the doubt, unwilling to believe that a President would be so reckless as to engage in war based on false pretenses. The intelligence given to them was not the raw intelligence data, but information “massaged” by Cheney’s coercion of the CIA.
Those of us that weren’t politicians were intrinsically skeptical of the Bush regime, from the outset. Most in the halls of Congress weren’t so cynical, We were right, they were wrong. Most have admitted as such years ago.
However, I still don’t condemn all Democratic leaders, with the eternal exception of Joe Lieberman. 9/11 created a public dynamic for revenge. It was a difficult tide to stand against, especially considering the impending 2002 elections, in which, contrary to the norm, the party of the incumbent president gained seats in the Senate and the House.
This isn’t excusing their actions but merely explaining them. If we are unwilling to accept the regret they’ve expressed for their decisions, then we are left increasingly marginalized politically and ultimately powerless as the more ruthless politicians and their overly-credulous supporters exploit our divisions.
The regrets the politicians expressed years ago is far different than the sentiments expressed by Christie and other Republicans, recently. They are late to such epiphanies and we are rightfully skeptical that they have, in fact, learned anything from this debacle,
You mean the democrats who controlled the Senate, who controlled the debate were all hoodwinked by the bumbling Bush and now you want to make one of the biggest proponents of the Iraq War, Hillary, President? So as a Senator she wasn’t smart enough to see the BS Bush was selling but she is going to be able to take on Putin?
It helps if the interviewer sends the questions to the interviewee in advance . ( Then the interviewees adviser can tell him/her what to say ) . Simples .
After your ideology having foisted history’s biggest presidential f^ckup-- JarJarBush– on the world?
You’ve got the nerve to take potshots?
I would vote Bullwinkle into the White House before I’d ever trust another (R) with the keys to the country.
And today’s (R)s? An entire party of grifters and f^ckups. Conservatism. Means never admitting what you’ve screwed up.
Again, a disingenuous reply amplified by hyperbole.
Good luck in getting a President elected by turning on your own and tilting at windmills. If you can’t see the difference in impact that a Democratic President will have on this country, as opposed to a Republican one, then you should see an opthamologist for your myopia.
What more evidence does anyone require to understand that the Guv’s world view does not extend beyond bayonne and he has made a mess of his tenure in Trenton?So long Chris…save the bluster for the fools you can fool.
