Some of us knew (Iraq rant)

[SHRED]

Some of us knew this would happen BEFORE we went in to Iraq.
Some of us took the time to read up about the make-up of what our brave sons and daughters were about to be sent in to and it startled us.
The rest of the country just beat their war drums and were intellectually lazy. No curiosity. Blind trust of the Chimp. They didn't even respect our troops enough to want to know where, and in to what situation the pResident was sending our troops.
Some of us knew about the Sunni and Shia rift and took to the streets to warn everyone. We were called traitors for trying to do so.
For all the Christians who supported this...try to get in to Heaven with red hands...good luck.
And the spineless warmongers that were wrong about this will never apologize.
The blood is on their conscience.

[babylonsister]

1. Well, aren't you special, SHRED? Some of us actually

believed Colin Powell when he went into his reasoning at the UN. I didn't vote for the blivet, but I honestly, at that time, didn't think I'd be lied to. I was stupid, but please don't condemn everyone who wasn't as aware as you were. I for one wanted to believe him, but couldn't get past the religious factions, and how those would be overcome.
I think one of my earliest thoughts about Iraq was 'how 'bout splitting it up 3-ways?" That might still happen.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

4. I did not believe Powell. By that time, I had

seen everyone who did not agree get slimed by the machine.

Of course, I have the advantage (if you can call it that) of being part of the Big Lie in Cambodia in the 70's, so I knew what was possible.

If the US Government insists the sky is blue, I am going to go out and look.

[Union Thug]

5. When I saw his scary cartoons, I knew it was a farce. What a fucking joke, I remember thinking..

Powell is prick pretending to be a saint. Fuck him.

[bvar22]

16. Yes. The cartoon drawings were a triumph in "PROOF".

Don't forget:

*The intercepted cell phone translation from a boss to his employee telling him to clean up the junkyard

*The satellite picture of a truck parked next to a warehouse, and then the truck moved the next day

*The vial of white powder and the explanation that IF that vial contained weponized anthrax, and IF Saddam had some, he could kill a lot of people.

*And the climax....cartoon drawings of a bio weapons lab.

Conclusive proof the Saddam had WMD, and was planning on using them on the US. How could anyone doubt it?

/sarcasm

[uberllama42]

9. I have to admit that I believed Powell briefly when he lied to the U.N.

Though I was just a dumb kid in high school, so what the hell did I know? I heard a lot of raitonal thought coming from the anti-war crowd about why this invasion would be an epic catastrophe, and I never supported the war, even presented with what I thought was good evidence by the man I perceived as the only shred of integrity in this crime-infested White House. It just wasn't enough to justify dropping bombs that I knew would kill innocent children.

[Zhade]

24. Some of us weren't ignorant of Powell's past lies and abuses.

Like, say, during the FIRST Gulf War. Were you not around when Powell gave the UN speech, which was debunked in real time on DU?

At any rate, ignorance is curable, so don't beat yourself up too badly!

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

2. "The blood is on their conscience.".... Ummmm, No It Isn't.

But here's a scooby snack for ya as a reward for being oh so insightful before hand.

[SHRED]

3. excuse me

Perhaps I should have said that the blood is on the conscience of those who still support this "war".

I labeled it a "rant" for a reason.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

7. Ahhhhhh Gotcha.

Well in that case, I somewhat agree: They've either got blood on their hands or shit on their face from havin their heads up their asses.

[sammythecat]

12. They have blood on their hands. Period.

Some of the people knew and some were fooled, but these guys KNEW. Colin Powell KNEW. He knew in his heart and his head that he was talking bullshit at the UN.

Right now we have no leadership in this country. Just thugs, or cowards. That's what we have for the most part.

[Hosnon]

6. To be honest, my concern never really involved a humanitarian element.

And I didn't know anything about the religious tension.

My problem with the invasion was that I believed, and still believe, that it was unconstitutional pursuant to the U.N. Charter (via Article VI) because there was no connection between Iraq and 9/11.

[Bigmack]

8. What you said....

"I told you so." is a mild version of what I feel about this clusterfuck.

[sammythecat]

10. Yes, many of us knew what our country was about to do

was wrong. Most of the world knew.

And most of our Democratic "leadership" knew too. Self-interest and cowardice allowed them to sit on their hands when they should have stood up.

I hope the blood IS on their conscience, but I fear it isn't. Their conscience is no more troubled than Pontius Pilate's was after he washed his hands. He too, knew what was happening was wrong, but he let it happen rather than jeopardize his own security.

[welshTerrier2]

11. trust: the ultimate failure

i was strongly opposed to the war ... i did NOT believe one word Powell said ...

my objections to invading Iraq were based on two things (at least):

first, i did NOT TRUST bush and cheney ... i thought their motives were OIL ... for me, this was the tragic mistake those who supported the war made - they TRUSTED ... how many elected Democrats, even today, even those who opposed the war, have questioned bush's motives for invading Iraq??? all of the criticisms are based on tactics ... while some are willing to say he lied when he made the case for war, they won't say WHY he lied ... this war was, is and will be about oil ...

and second, the standard for attacking another country has always been "imminent threat" ... how could anyone believe that Saddam Hussein would have been stupid enough to attack the US??? how could this have been credible to anyone??? couldn't they see that 9/11 was being used as an excuse to go to war? almost everyone knew at the time that Saddam's military would collapse immediately when the US invaded ...

the invasion of Iraq was one of the greatest blunders in our nation's history ... one has to ask what good democracy ultimately is when so many of our citizens use such poor judgment and are so easily duped ...

the next time they try this, and they will, ask yourself whether the military-industrial complex and Big Oil stand to make billions and billions ... if the answer is "yes", do NOT TRUST your government ... if you do, hundreds of thousands of innocent people will die ...

[dogday]

13. I knew when shrub got the presidency, that

he would take us to war... And I did not even get into politics until the 2000 election, but I knew this man would take us to war....

[progressoid]

14. Yer damn right we knew.

I remember having huge arguments with family members about it, sending messages to my elected officials, having online "discussions" about it, etc. We knew.

Some of them knew too, but only a few will publicly admit to the mistake of supporting this debacle.

[checks-n-balances]

18. Remember when those who questioned were ridiculed & vilified for knowing it

was wrong and saying so?

It takes amazing self-control now not to say, "I told you so" to those who were once quick to label dissenters as unpatriotic (among other things).

It's gratifying to see so many people now waking up and renouncing our leadership publicly. But it would also be nice for once to hear a public apology to those who were discredited and ridiculed for being prescient and right about the Iraq invasion in the first place.

[Zhade]

25. Oh my yes. I was called a "Saddam sympathizer" and told I had the same mindset as Osama bin Laden.

I was told this at work.

In front of people.

Some of whom agreed.

Now that idiot is gone - fired for bigoted harassment - and everyone here knows I WAS RIGHT.

And it does indeed take significant control not to remind them of this fact.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

15. If the politicians didn't know, then they're too stupid to hold public office.

And, if anyone believes that they didn't "know" they're too stupid to vote.

[cynatnite]

17. Many of us knew...

We knew about the Sunni and Shia. We knew our troops would have targets painted on their backs. We knew about these pitfalls.

At the same time, Colin Powell still had credibility. I believed him, but still wasn't sure. Hans Blix was saying there were no WMD. He'd been there. He was very credible, too.

The more these two were at odds, the more I believed we should wait and be sure before invading. Waiting wouldn't have killed anyone. I never for one second believed Saddam had any capability of striking the US. I never for one second believed Iraq had anything to do with 9/11.

Many people couldn't comprehend that anyone would sacrifice American lives for lies and still can't.

[blues90]

19. I didn't believe Powell .

The problem I had with this entire thing was bush wanted this and he wanted it badly , it was certain . Beside this all we had was drawings of said WMD's , and the banter of attacks in the form of mushroom clouds . This was the rant and repeated over and over again .

What was the rush to attack Iraq anyway , they had never attacked us before and there was no reason to believe they would anytime soon .

Again , people bought into the fear and forgot all about Bin , this went right down the memory hole and was quickly replaced by hate and fear .

[sojourner]

20. you are right.....some of us did know. that doesn't do a bit of good though.

we sounded nutty. and it wasn't fun, was it, trying to tell people?

it's not fun now, either.

and as to those who jumped on the bandwagon, well -- some of them felt persuaded by the strength of public opinion as it was presented by the Corporate Media (MSM) and the false testimony of people like Colin Powell. they no doubt feel bad..........for believing what they were told. i can't hold them directly responsible.

but for others, there is no conscience to feel the weight of the bloodguilt that rests upon them.

[fNord]

21. Its possible that one of the few people who didn't know

was Powell himself. when you look in his eyes at his U.N. speech, he believed every one of the lies he was spewing. And why not? Its not like he didn't know of the weapon suppling that H. W. Bush was doing with the Iraqi government for the war w/ Iran during the early Reagan years. all the former CIA director had to do was show Powell the receipt, tell him "oh no, hes gonna use this shit on us" and send him on his way. Why do you think he retired when monkey boy stole the second election

[fNord]

22. this late in the game, with the death toll so high,

i think an apology would not be enough. first, i would want a humble public apology, to the american and Iraqi people. then ALL the people who made this horrible call need to publicly kill themselves wile begging for mercy for whatever god they think they are about to meet.

[derby378]

23. True, some of us knew what was going to happen if we headed down that road...

It was up to the Bush administration to prove the need to invade Iraq, despite the decade-long embargo and the decimation of Iraq's armed forces. But they never did. Instead, they gave us a big song-and-dance number based on one of Adolph Hitler's own precepts: "The great masses of the public...will more easily fall prey to a great lie than a small one."