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| Ed Koch: Democrats Making "Unforgivable Mistake" re: Bush |
| 2003-07-16 |
| Edward I. Koch Wednesday, July 16, 2003 EFL The Democratic candidates for president — and many in the media — are trying to make President Bush seem like a liar. In so doing, they are making an unforgivable mistake. In his State of the Union Address to Congress on Jan. 28, 2003, President Bush said, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair ... said last week that the representation was true and comes from a different source than the one that was recently discredited by the CIA. For me, it comes down to this: If Bush actually did lie to the American public — intentionally stating as the truth that which he knew to be false — then he should be impeached and removed as president. However, if Bush did not lie, and I do not believe that he did, then Americans of all political persuasions should defend our country’s reputation for fair play by displaying their indignation at those who bear false witness. Although I am a Democrat, I am no ideologue. In some local and state elections, I have proudly crossed party lines for candidates I thought were appreciably better. I believe that the most important issue facing the world is international terrorism, and it is my current intention to vote for George W. Bush for re-election. I do not agree with him on many domestic issues, ranging from privatizing Social Security to tax reductions favoring the wealthy. However, because of his leadership and successes in the war against international terrorism, he is my current choice in 2004. Whether intelligence reports about Iraq were accurate or not, the president had a right to rely on information from Blair, America’s most steadfast ally, and his government. If either Bush or Blair knew the reports were false and either is now engaging in a cover-up, that individual should be removed from office. I believe Democrats and their media allies will fail to bring Bush down, because taking on Saddam Hussein was the right course of action for America. National Security Advisor Dr. Condoleezza Rice, on "Face the Nation" over the weekend, cleaned the clocks of her two media interrogators and critics, CBS’ Bob Schieffer and Los Angeles Times Washington Bureau Chief Doyle McManus, with her brilliant responses to their questions. The president took the nation to war to depose a bloody tyrant who had defied the world for 12 years, who was building a weapons of mass destruction program and had weapons of mass destruction, which he had used in the past, who was a threat to American interest in the Middle East and who, now that he is removed, is giving us an opportunity for [the] Middle East that might finally be at peace and that will not create an atmosphere in which you have ideologies of hatred spawning people who slam airplanes into the World Trade Center. So we do have to put this in perspective. The president’s State of the Union said something that was accurate: This is what the British government said in its reporting. The British, I might note, still stand by that statement. It was not based, they say, on a single source, but on other sources. The lines have been drawn. Let’s find out the truth. Congress should hold public hearings on this issue. I also am in favor of public hearings conducted by an independent commission on the performance of the FBI, CIA and all other national security agencies pre- and post-9/11. Let the chips fall where they may, and hold accountable those who were negligent in failing to prevent the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. |
| Posted by:ColoradoConservative |
| #5 Indeed, Anon1: Quit before it gets nasty, Blair told. Blair's embattled and fighting. The Clare Shorts and Robin Cooks are on his back trying to bring him down. It may sound ungrateful, but I'm not bothered about Tony's fate as the damage he's inflicting on Britain outweighs his admirable stance concerning Iraq. A Blair overthrow would substantially reduce Labour's chances at the next election, and that's got to be a good thing. There appears to be a growing groundswell of opinion in the UK, a backlash against further EU integration and against previously inviolate organisations like the BBC and the NHS. Things are looking up; the Blairite "Third Way" is on the way out. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-7-17 7:26:59 AM |
| #4 This type of attack-campaign damages US allies, too. In Australia, Howard is currently under pressure from the media and the Labor party Opposition who claim: 'we went to war based on a lie' Palpably false in so many ways: even if the documents WERE forged, this statement would still be false. But the dumb public will swallow a headline repeated often enough and the ALP know it. They learned the Goebbels lesson well: personal attacks and repetition of the simple. I'm sure Blaire has to deal with the Clare Shorts of the world taking up the chant over there too: Bulldog? |
| Posted by: Anon1 2003-7-17 1:16:04 AM |
| #3 actually a lot of the hype in the Dems is done to raise campaign funds if you don't have campaign funds, you don't have a long term. Koch isn't running so he can afford to be rational. If Dean starts being polite and rational, the flow of money to his campaign ends. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-7-16 10:32:48 PM |
| #2 Whether or not the Democrats are making a big mistake, as Koch alleges, depends on what they're trying to accomplish. It's REALLY difficult for me to believe any of the Dem intelligentsia (either in the DNC or in the media) actually think this story will be around for another 16 days, much less the 16 months remaining until the 2004 elections. More likely, I think, is that they intend to create a constant drumbeat of criticism, by raising one overhyped "issue" after another, to wear down Bush's popularity so there's a chance of beating him. That, and to keep up a steady flow of "red meat" for their followers who hunger for even the slightest scrap of hope that all is not lost. Who knows whether it'll work, but it seems to be having at least some effect. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2003-7-16 8:20:21 PM |
| #1 And Rummy cleaned the clocks of George and Tim big-time, as well. |
| Posted by: Michael 2003-7-16 5:15:12 PM |