Hey, you mainstream news media people. Got something for you to check out...

[WilliamPitt]

I hear McClellan's book has you claiming your work before and after the Iraq invasion was solid, above reproach, full of integrity and the kind of journalistic ethics Murrow would be proud of.

If you were standing in front of me, I'd spit in your face.

I have a little song I'd like to dedicate to you, and also to those politically-connected pals you have in your Rolodex. This is your party. Choke on it.

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead

- Dylan

I SEE YOU, BASTARDS. THIS IS JUST A SMALL PORTION OF WHAT YOU SAID:

===

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2842

Declaring Victory

"Iraq Is All but Won; Now What?"
(Los Angeles Times headline, 4/10/03)

"Now that the combat phase of the war in Iraq is officially over, what begins is a debate throughout the entire U.S. government over America's unrivaled power and how best to use it."
(CBS reporter Joie Chen, 5/4/03)

"Congress returns to Washington this week to a world very different from the one members left two weeks ago. The war in Iraq is essentially over and domestic issues are regaining attention."
(NPR's Bob Edwards, 4/28/03)

"Tommy Franks and the coalition forces have demonstrated the old axiom that boldness on the battlefield produces swift and relatively bloodless victory. The three-week swing through Iraq has utterly shattered skeptics' complaints."
(Fox News Channel's Tony Snow, 4/13/03)

"The only people who think this wasn't a victory are Upper Westside liberals, and a few people here in Washington."
(Charles Krauthammer, Inside Washington, WUSA-TV, 4/19/03)

"We had controversial wars that divided the country. This war united the country and brought the military back."
(Newsweek's Howard Fineman--MSNBC, 5/7/03)

"We're all neo-cons now."
(MSNBC's Chris Matthews, 4/9/03)

"The war was the hard part. The hard part was putting together a coalition, getting 300,000 troops over there and all their equipment and winning. And it gets easier. I mean, setting up a democracy is hard, but it is not as hard as winning a war."
(Fox News Channel's Fred Barnes, 4/10/03)

"Oh, it was breathtaking. I mean I was almost starting to think that we had become inured to everything that we'd seen of this war over the past three weeks; all this sort of saturation. And finally, when we saw that it was such a just true, genuine expression. It was reminiscent, I think, of the fall of the Berlin Wall. And just sort of that pure emotional expression, not choreographed, not stage-managed, the way so many things these days seem to be. Really breathtaking."
(Washington Post reporter Ceci Connolly, appearing on Fox News Channel on 4/9/03, discussing the pulling down of a Saddam Hussein statue in Baghdad, an event later revealed to have been a U.S. military PSYOPS operation--Los Angeles Times, 7/3/04)

Mission Accomplished?

"The war winds down, politics heats up.... Picture perfect. Part Spider-Man, part Tom Cruise, part Ronald Reagan. The president seizes the moment on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific."
(PBS's Gwen Ifill, 5/2/03, on George W. Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech)

"We're proud of our president. Americans love having a guy as president, a guy who has a little swagger, who's physical, who's not a complicated guy like Clinton or even like Dukakis or Mondale, all those guys, McGovern. They want a guy who's president. Women like a guy who's president. Check it out. The women like this war. I think we like having a hero as our president. It's simple. We're not like the Brits."
(MSNBC's Chris Matthews, 5/1/03)

"He looked like an alternatively commander in chief, rock star, movie star, and one of the guys."
(CNN's Lou Dobbs, on Bush's 'Mission Accomplished' speech, 5/1/03)

Neutralizing the Opposition

"Why don't the damn Democrats give the president his day? He won today. He did well today."
(MSNBC's Chris Matthews, 4/9/03)

"What's he going to talk about a year from now, the fact that the war went too well and it's over? I mean, don't these things sort of lose their--Isn't there a fresh date on some of these debate points?"
(MSNBC's Chris Matthews, speaking about Howard Dean--4/9/03)

"If image is everything, how can the Democratic presidential hopefuls compete with a president fresh from a war victory?"
(CNN's Judy Woodruff, 5/5/03)

"It is amazing how thorough the victory in Iraq really was in the broadest context..... And the silence, I think, is that it's clear that nobody can do anything about it. There isn't anybody who can stop him. The Democrats can't oppose--cannot oppose him politically."
(Washington Post reporter Jeff Birnbaum-- Fox News Channel, 5/2/03)

Nagging the "Naysayers"

"Now that the war in Iraq is all but over, should the people in Hollywood who opposed the president admit they were wrong?"
(Fox News Channel's Alan Colmes, 4/25/03)

"I doubt that the journalists at the New York Times and NPR or at ABC or at CNN are going to ever admit just how wrong their negative pronouncements were over the past four weeks."
(MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, 4/9/03)

"I'm waiting to hear the words 'I was wrong' from some of the world's most elite journalists, politicians and Hollywood types.... I just wonder, who's going to be the first elitist to show the character to say: 'Hey, America, guess what? I was wrong'? Maybe the White House will get an apology, first, from the New York Times' Maureen Dowd. Now, Ms. Dowd mocked the morality of this war....

"Do you all remember Scott Ritter, you know, the former chief U.N. weapons inspector who played chief stooge for Saddam Hussein? Well, Mr. Ritter actually told a French radio network that -- quote, 'The United States is going to leave Baghdad with its tail between its legs, defeated.' Sorry, Scott. I think you've been chasing the wrong tail, again.

"Maybe disgraced commentators and politicians alike, like Daschle, Jimmy Carter, Dennis Kucinich, and all those others, will step forward tonight and show the content of their character by simply admitting what we know already: that their wartime predictions were arrogant, they were misguided and they were dead wrong. Maybe, just maybe, these self-anointed critics will learn from their mistakes. But I doubt it. After all, we don't call them 'elitists' for nothing."
(MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, 4/10/03)

"Over the next couple of weeks when we find the chemical weapons this guy was amassing, the fact that this war was attacked by the left and so the right was so vindicated, I think, really means that the left is going to have to hang its head for three or four more years."
(Fox News Channel's Dick Morris, 4/9/03)

"This has been a tough war for commentators on the American left. To hope for defeat meant cheering for Saddam Hussein. To hope for victory meant cheering for President Bush. The toppling of Mr. Hussein, or at least a statue of him, has made their arguments even harder to defend. Liberal writers for ideologically driven magazines like The Nation and for less overtly political ones like The New Yorker did not predict a defeat, but the terrible consequences many warned of have not happened. Now liberal commentators must address the victory at hand and confront an ascendant conservative juggernaut that asserts United States might can set the world right."
(New York Times reporter David Carr, 4/16/03)

"Well, the hot story of the week is victory.... The Tommy Franks-Don Rumsfeld battle plan, war plan, worked brilliantly, a three-week war with mercifully few American deaths or Iraqi civilian deaths.... There is a lot of work yet to do, but all the naysayers have been humiliated so far.... The final word on this is, hooray."
(Fox News Channel's Morton Kondracke, 4/12/03)

"Some journalists, in my judgment, just can't stand success, especially a few liberal columnists and newspapers and a few Arab reporters."
(CNN's Lou Dobbs, 4/14/03)

"Sean Penn is at it again. The Hollywood star takes out a full-page ad out in the New York Times bashing George Bush. Apparently he still hasn't figured out we won the war."
(MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, 5/30/03)

Cakewalk?

"This will be no war -- there will be a fairly brief and ruthless military intervention.... The president will give an order. will be rapid, accurate and dazzling.... It will be greeted by the majority of the Iraqi people as an emancipation. And I say, bring it on."
(Christopher Hitchens, in a 1/28/03 debate-- cited in the Observer, 3/30/03)

"I will bet you the best dinner in the gaslight district of San Diego that military action will not last more than a week. Are you willing to take that wager?"
(Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly, 1/29/03)

"It won't take weeks. You know that, professor. Our military machine will crush Iraq in a matter of days and there's no question that it will."
(Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly, 2/10/03)

"There's no way. There's absolutely no way. They may bomb for a matter of weeks, try to soften them up as they did in Afghanistan. But once the United States and Britain unleash, it's maybe hours. They're going to fold like that."
(Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly, 2/10/03)

"He actually thought that he could stop us and win the debate worldwide. But he didn't--he didn't bargain on a two- or three week war. I actually thought it would be less than two weeks."
(NBC reporter Fred Francis, Chris Matthews Show, 4/13/03)

Weapons of Mass Destruction

NPR's Mara Liasson: Where there was a debate about whether or not Iraq had these weapons of mass destruction and whether we can find it...

Brit Hume: No, there wasn't. Nobody seriously argued that he didn't have them beforehand. Nobody.
(Fox News Channel, April 6, 2003)

"Speaking to the U.N. Security Council last week, Secretary of State Colin Powell made so strong a case that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is in material breach of U.N. resolutions that only the duped, the dumb and the desperate could ignore it."
(Cal Thomas, syndicated column, 2/12/03)

"Saddam could decide to take Baghdad with him. One Arab intelligence officer interviewed by Newsweek spoke of 'the green mushroom' over Baghdad--the modern-day caliph bidding a grotesque bio-chem farewell to the land of the living alongside thousands of his subjects as well as his enemies. Saddam wants to be remembered. He has the means and the demonic imagination. It is up to U.S. armed forces to stop him before he can achieve notoriety for all time."
(Newsweek, 3/17/03)

"Chris, more than anything else, real vindication for the administration. One, credible evidence of weapons of mass destruction. Two, you know what? There were a lot of terrorists here, really bad guys. I saw them."
(MSNBC reporter Bob Arnot, 4/9/03)

"Even in the flush of triumph, doubts will be raised. Where are the supplies of germs and poison gas and plans for nukes to justify pre-emption? (Freed scientists will lead us to caches no inspectors could find.) What about remaining danger from Baathist torturers and war criminals forming pockets of resistance and plotting vengeance? (Their death wish is our command.)"
(New York Times' William Safire, 4/10/03)

=====

...AND THIS IS WHAT YOU LET SLIDE BY:

=====

"How the United States should react if Iraq acquired WMD. The first line of defense...should be a clear and classical statement of deterrence--if they do acquire WMD, their weapons will be unusable because any attempt to use them will bring national obliteration."

- Condoleeza Rice, US National Security Advisor
January/February 2000 issue of Foreign Affairs
2/1/2000

"We are greatly concerned about any possible linkup between terrorists and regimes that have or seek weapons of mass destruction...In the case of Saddam Hussein, we've got a dictator who is clearly pursuing and already possesses some of these weapons. A regime that hates America and everything we stand for must never be permitted to threaten America with weapons of mass destruction."

- Dick Cheney, Vice President
Detroit, Fund-Raiser
6/20/2002

"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction."

- Dick Cheney, Vice President
Speech to VFW National Convention
8/26/2002

"There is already a mountain of evidence that Saddam Hussein is gathering weapons for the purpose of using them. And adding additional information is like adding a foot to Mount Everest."

- Ari Fleischer, Press Secretary
Response to Question From Press
9/6/2002

"We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."

- Condoleeza Rice, US National Security Advisor
CNN Late Edition
9/8/2002

"Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons."

- George W. Bush, President
Speech to UN General Assembly
9/12/2002

"Iraq has stockpiled biological and chemical weapons, and is rebuilding the facilities used to make more of those weapons. We have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons -- the very weapons the dictator tells us he does not have."

- George W. Bush, President
Radio Address
10/5/2002

"The Iraqi regime...possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons. We know that the regime has produced thousands of tons of chemical agents, including mustard gas, sarin nerve gas, VX nerve gas."

- George W. Bush, President
Cincinnati, Ohio Speech
10/7/2002

"And surveillance photos reveal that the regime is rebuilding facilities that it had used to produce chemical and biological weapons."

- George W. Bush, President
Cincinnati, Ohio Speech
10/7/2002

"After eleven years during which we have tried containment, sanctions, inspections, even selected military action, the end result is that Saddam Hussein still has chemical and biological weapons and is increasing his capabilities to make more. And he is moving ever closer to developing a nuclear weapon."

- George W. Bush, President
Cincinnati, Ohio Speech
10/7/2002

"We've also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas."

- George W. Bush, President
Cincinnati, Ohio Speech
10/7/2002

"Iraq, despite UN sanctions, maintains an aggressive program to rebuild the infrastructure for its nuclear, chemical, biological, and missile programs. In each instance, Iraq's procurement agents are actively working to obtain both weapons-specific and dual-use materials and technologies critical to their rebuilding and expansion efforts, using front companies and whatever illicit means are at hand."

- John Bolton, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control
Speech to the Hudson Institute
11/1/2002

"We estimate that once Iraq acquires fissile material -- whether from a foreign source or by securing the materials to build an indigenous fissile material capability -- it could fabricate a nuclear weapon within one year. It has rebuilt its civilian chemical infrastructure and renewed production of chemical warfare agents, probably including mustard, sarin, and VX. It actively maintains all key aspects of its offensive BW program."

- John Bolton, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control
Speech to the Hudson Institute
11/1/2002

"Iraq could decide on any given day to provide biological or chemical weapons to a terrorist group or to individual terrorists...The war on terror will not be won until Iraq is completely and verifiably deprived of weapons of mass destruction."

- Dick Cheney, Vice President
Denver, Address To Air National Guard
12/1/2002

"If he declares he has none, then we will know that Saddam Hussein is once again misleading the world."

- Ari Fleischer, Press Secretary
Press Briefing
12/2/2002

"The president of the United States and the secretary of defense would not assert as plainly and bluntly as they have that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction if it was not true, and if they did not have a solid basis for saying it."

- Ari Fleischer, Press Secretary
Response to Question From Press
12/4/2002

"We know for a fact that there are weapons there."

- Ari Fleischer, Press Secretary
Press Briefing
1/9/2003

"I am absolutely convinced, based on the information that's been given to me, that the weapon of mass destruction which can kill more people than an atomic bomb -- that is, biological weapons -- is in the hands of the leadership of Iraq."

- Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader
MSNBC Interview
1/10/2003

"What is unique about Iraq compared to, I would argue, any other country in the world, in this juncture, is the exhaustion of diplomacy thus far, and, No. 2, this intersection of weapons of mass destruction."

- Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader
NewsHour Interview
1/22/2003

"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production."

- George W. Bush, President
State of the Union Address
1/28/2003

"Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent."

- George W. Bush, President
State of the Union Address
1/28/2003

"We know that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass destruction, is determined to make more."

- Colin Powell, Secretary of State
Remarks to UN Security Council
2/5/2003

"There can be no doubt that Saddam Hussein has biological weapons and the capability to rapidly produce more, many more. And he has the ability to dispense these lethal poisons and diseases in ways that can cause massive death and destruction. If biological weapons seem too terrible to contemplate, chemical weapons are equally chilling."

- Colin Powell, Secretary of State
Addresses the U.N. Security Council
2/5/2003

"In Iraq, a dictator is building and hiding weapons that could enable him to dominate the Middle East and intimidate the civilized world -- and we will not allow it."

- George W. Bush, President
Speech to the American Enterprise Institute
2/26/2003

"If Iraq had disarmed itself, gotten rid of its weapons of mass destruction over the past 12 years, or over the last several months since (UN Resolution) 1441 was enacted, we would not be facing the crisis that we now have before us...But the suggestion that we are doing this because we want to go to every country in the Middle East and rearrange all of its pieces is not correct."

- Colin Powell, Secretary of State
Interview with Radio France International
2/28/2003

"I am not eager to send young Americans into harm's way in Iraq, or to see innocent people killed or hurt in military operations. Given all of the facts and circumstances known to us, however, I am convinced that if we wait, a threat will continue to materialize in Iraq that could cause incalculable damage to world peace in general, and to the United States in particular."

- Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader
Letter to Future of Freedom Foundation
3/1/2003

"Iraq is a grave threat to this nation. It desires to acquire and use weapons of mass terror and is run by a despot with a proven record of willingness to use them. Iraq has had 12 years to comply with UN requirements for disarmament and has failed to do so. The president is right to say it's time has run out."

- Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader
Senate Speech
3/7/2003

"So has the strategic decision been made to disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction by the leadership in Baghdad? I think our judgment has to be clearly not."

- Colin Powell, Secretary of State
Remarks to UN Security Council
3/7/2003

"Getting rid of Saddam Hussein's regime is our best inoculation. Destroying once and for all his weapons of disease and death is a vaccination for the world."

- Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader
Washington Post op-ed
3/16/2003

"Let's talk about the nuclear proposition for a minute. We know that based on intelligence, that has been very, very good at hiding these kinds of efforts. He's had years to get good at it and we know he has been absolutely devoted to trying to acquire nuclear weapons. And we believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons."

- Dick Cheney, Vice President
Meet The Press
3/16/2003

"Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised."

- George W. Bush, President
Address to the Nation
3/17/2003

"The United States...is now at war so we will not ever see what terrorists could do if supplied with weapons of mass destruction by Saddam Hussein."

- Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader
Senate Debate
3/20/2003

"Well, there is no question that we have evidence and information that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, biological and chemical particularly . . . all this will be made clear in the course of the operation, for whatever duration it takes."

- Ari Fleischer, Press Secretary
Press Briefing
3/21/2003

"There is no doubt that the regime of Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction. And...as this operation continues, those weapons will be identified, found, along with the people who have produced them and who guard them."

- General Tommy Franks, Commander in Chief Central Command
Press Conference
3/22/2003

"One of our top objectives is to find and destroy the WMD. There are a number of sites."

- Victoria Clark, Pentagon Spokeswoman
Press Briefing
3/22/2003

"I have no doubt we're going to find big stores of weapons of mass destruction."

- Kenneth Adelman, Defense Policy Board member
Washington Post, p. A27
3/23/2003

"We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat."

- Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense
ABC Interview
3/30/2003

"We simply cannot live in fear of a ruthless dictator, aggressor and terrorist such as Saddam Hussein, who possesses the world's most deadly weapons."

- Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader
Speech to American Israel Political Action Committee
3/31/2003

"We still need to find and secure Iraq's weapons of mass destruction facilities and secure Iraq's borders so we can prevent the flow of weapons of mass destruction materials and senior regime officials out of the country."

- Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense
Press Conference
4/9/2003

"You bet we're concerned about it. And one of the reasons it's important is because the nexus between terrorist states with weapons of mass destruction...and terrorist groups -- networks -- is a critical link. And the thought that...some of those materials could leave the country and in the hands of terrorist networks would be a very unhappy prospect. So it is important to us to see that that doesn't happen."

- Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense
Press Conference
4/9/2003

"Obviously the administration intends to publicize all the weapons of mass destruction U.S. forces find -- and there will be plenty."

- Robert Kagan, Neocon scholar
Washington Post op-ed
4/9/2003

"I think you have always heard, and you continue to hear from officials, a measure of high confidence that, indeed, the weapons of mass destruction will be found."

- Ari Fleischer, Press Secretary
Press Briefing
4/10/2003

"But make no mistake -- as I said earlier -- we have high confidence that they have weapons of mass destruction. That is what this war was about and it is about. And we have high confidence it will be found."

- Ari Fleischer, Press Secretary
Press Briefing
4/10/2003

"Were not going to find anything until we find people who tell us where the things are. And we have that very high on our priority list, to find the people who know. And when we do, then well learn precisely where things were and what was done."

- Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense
Meet the Press
4/13/2003

"I have absolute confidence that there are weapons of mass destruction inside this country. Whether we will turn out, at the end of the day, to find them in one of the 2,000 or 3,000 sites we already know about or whether contact with one of these officials who we may come in contact with will tell us, 'Oh, well, there's actually another site,' and we'll find it there, I'm not sure."

- General Tommy Franks, Commander in Chief Central Command
Fox News
4/13/2003

"We are learning more as we interrogate or have discussions with Iraqi scientists and people within the Iraqi structure, that perhaps he destroyed some, perhaps he dispersed some. And so we will find them."

- George W. Bush, President
NBC Interview
4/24/2003

"There are people who in large measure have information that we need...so that we can track down the weapons of mass destruction in that country."

- Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense
Press Briefing
4/25/2003

"We'll find them. It'll be a matter of time to do so."

- George W. Bush, President
Remarks to Reporters
5/3/2003

"I'm absolutely sure that there are weapons of mass destruction there and the evidence will be forthcoming. We're just getting it just now."

- Colin Powell, Secretary of State
Remarks to Reporters
5/4/2003

"We never believed that we'd just tumble over weapons of mass destruction in that country."

- Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense
Fox News Interview
5/4/2003

"I'm not surprised if we begin to uncover the weapons program of Saddam Hussein -- because he had a weapons program."

- George W. Bush, President
Remarks to Reporters
5/6/2003

"U.S. officials never expected that 'we were going to open garages and find' weapons of mass destruction."

- Condoleeza Rice, US National Security Advisor
Reuters Interview
5/12/2003

"I just don't know whether it was all destroyed years ago -- I mean, there's no question that there were chemical weapons years ago -- whether they were destroyed right before the war, (or) whether they're still hidden."

- Maj. Gen. David Petraeus, Commander 101st Airborne
Press Briefing
5/13/2003

"We said all along that we will never get to the bottom of the Iraqi WMD program simply by going and searching specific sites, that you'd have to be able to get people who know about the programs to talk to you."

- Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense
Interview with Australian Broadcasting
5/13/2003

"Before the war, there's no doubt in my mind that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, biological and chemical. I expected them to be found. I still expect them to be found."

- Gen. Michael Hagee, Commandant of the Marine Corps
Interview with Reporters
5/21/2003

"It's going to take time to find them, but we know he had them. And whether he destroyed them, moved them or hid them, we're going to find out the truth. One thing is for certain: Saddam Hussein no longer threatens America with weapons of mass destruction."

- George W. Bush, President
Speech at a weapons factory in Ohio
5/25/2003

"Given time, given the number of prisoners now that we're interrogating, I'm confident that we're going to find weapons of mass destruction."

- Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff
NBC Today Show interview
5/26/2003

"They may have had time to destroy them, and I don't know the answer."

- Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense
Remarks to Council on Foreign Relations
5/27/2003

"For bureaucratic reasons, we settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction (as justification for invading Iraq) because it was the one reason everyone could agree on."

- Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense
Vanity Fair interview
5/28/2003

"The President is indeed satisfied with the intelligence that he received. And I think that's borne out by the fact that, just as Secretary Powell described at the United Nations, we have found the bio trucks that can be used only for the purpose of producing biological weapons. That's proof-perfect that the intelligence in that regard was right on target."

- Ari Fleischer, Press Secretary
Press Briefing
5/29/2003

"We have teams of people that are out looking. They've investigated a number of sites. And within the last week or two, they have in fact captured and have in custody two of the mobile trailers that Secretary Powell talked about at the United Nations as being biological weapons laboratories."

- Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense
Infinity Radio Interview
5/30/2003

"But for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them."

- George W. Bush, President
Interview with TVP Poland
5/30/2003

"You remember when Colin Powell stood up in front of the world, and he said Iraq has got laboratories, mobile labs to build biological weapons...They're illegal. They're against the United Nations resolutions, and we've so far discovered two...And we'll find more weapons as time goes on."

- George W. Bush, President
Press Briefing
5/30/2003

"It was a surprise to me then -- it remains a surprise to me now -- that we have not uncovered weapons, as you say, in some of the forward dispersal sites. Believe me, it's not for lack of trying. We've been to virtually every ammunition supply point between the Kuwaiti border and Baghdad, but they're simply not there."

- Lt. Gen. James Conway, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force
Press Interview
5/30/2003

"Do I think we're going to find something? Yeah, I kind of do, because I think there's a lot of information out there."

- Maj. Gen. Keith Dayton, Defense Intelligence Agency
Press Conference
5/30/2003

"This wasn't material I was making up, it came from the intelligence community."

- Colin Powell, Secretary of State
Press Briefing
6/2/2003

"We recently found two mobile biological weapons facilities which were capable of producing biological agents. This is the man who spent decades hiding tools of mass murder. He knew the inspectors were looking for them. You know better than me he's got a big country in which to hide them. We're on the look. We'll reveal the truth."

- George W. Bush, President Camp Sayliya, Qatar
6/5/2003

"I would put before you Exhibit A, the mobile biological labs that we have found. People are saying, 'Well, are they truly mobile biological labs?' Yes, they are. And the DCI, George Tenet, Director of Central Intelligence, stands behind that assessment."

- Colin Powell, Secretary of State
Fox News Interview
6/8/2003

"No one ever said that we knew precisely where all of these agents were, where they were stored."

- Condoleeza Rice, US National Security Advisor
Meet the Press
6/8/2003

"What the president has said is because it's been the long-standing view of numerous people, not only in this country, not only in this administration, but around the world, including at the United Nations, who came to those conclusions...And the president is not going to engage in the rewriting of history that others may be trying to engage in."

- Ari Fleischer, Press Secretary
Response to Question From Press
6/9/2003

"Iraq had a weapons program...Intelligence throughout the decade showed they had a weapons program. I am absolutely convinced with time we'll find out they did have a weapons program."

- George W. Bush, President
Comment to Reporters
6/9/2003

"The biological weapons labs that we believe strongly are biological weapons labs, we didn't find any biological weapons with those labs. But should that give us any comfort? Not at all. Those were labs that could produce biological weapons whenever Saddam Hussein might have wanted to have a biological weapons inventory."

- Colin Powell, Secretary of State
Associated Press Interview
6/12/2003

"Those documents were only one piece of evidence in a larger body of evidence suggesting that Iraq attempted to purchase uranium from Africa...The issue of Iraq's pursuit of uranium in Africa is supported by multiple sources of intelligence. The other sources of evidence did and do support the president's statement."

- Sean McCormack, National Security Council Spokesman
Statement to press
6/13/2003

"My personal view is that their intelligence has been, I'm sure, imperfect, but good. In other words, I think the intelligence was correct in general, and that you always will find out precisely what it was once you get on the ground and have a chance to talk to people and explore it, and I think that will happen."

- Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense
Press Briefing
6/18/2003

"I have reason, every reason, to believe that the intelligence that we were operating off was correct and that we will, in fact, find weapons or evidence of weapons, programs, that are conclusive. But that's just a matter of time...It's now less than eight weeks since the end of major combat in Iraq and I believe that patience will prove to be a virtue."

- Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense
Pentagon media briefing
6/24/2003

MS. BLOCK: There were no toxins found in those trailers. SECRETARY POWELL: Which could mean one of several things: one, they hadn't been used yet to develop toxins; or, secondly, they had been sterilized so thoroughly that there is no residual left. It may well be that they hadn't been used yet.

- Colin Powell, Secretary of State
All Things Considered, Interview
6/27/2003

"That was the concern we had with Saddam Hussein. Not only did he have weapons -- and we'll uncover not only his weapons but all of his weapons programs -- he never lost the intent to have these kinds of weapons."

- Colin Powell, Secretary of State
All Things Considered, Interview
6/27/2003

"I think the burden is on those people who think he didn't have weapons of mass destruction to tell the world where they are."

- Ari Fleischer, Press Secretary
Press Briefing
7/9/2003

=====

Good work, shitdogs. Burn in Hell. Slowly.

[Marnieworld]

1. Once again, Thanks Will

Never forget. :patriot:

[livetohike]

2. Thank you!

I hope we can keep this kicked to the Greatest Page. :toast:

[katsy]

3. kick/r

:cry:

[islandmkl]

4. nothing more needs said, except 'thanks' for the post..

[malaise]

16. Ditto

Great post

[Newsjock]

5. I know what you mean, but ...

... not all of us in the "mainstream media" before or during the war were "shitdogs."

Some of us tried desperately to at least give prominence to the doubts over the stated reasons for war, using whatever news services we had at our disposal. Time and time again, our efforts were stymied by our editors, our readers, and even our corporate management, who directed us to keep Iraq off the front page because "people don't want to read about it."

But I already know that I'm "burning in hell, slowly" for being part of the "mainstream media," no matter how hard I tried to prevent an unjustified war. I can condemn myself -- and live with it every day -- just fine, and I do. I don't need a horde of angry "progressives" hunting me down with pitchforks, whipped into frenzy and not mindful of the difference between the big-name "journalist" warmongers and the small-town journalists who were largely powerless to effect meaningful change.

Yet another reason why I've left journalism forever.

[FREEWILL56]

11. I'm sure you can understand the use of that generalization

because of how widespread it is. I'm quite sure the readers did not want to be lied to either except for those repukes that wanted to see the lies in bold. I am also quite sorry to hear of your having to quit over this and I'm sure you weren't the only one to have done so. Your testimony here that you had to quit because of the media industry's refusal to report real facts rather than the lies for political agendas is proof of how bad things are in this country. Knowing the truth without being able to give it its just hearing as factual is frustrating as hell. I do not condemn you, but will praise you as you had tried to do your job properly. With your quiting there is less likelyhood of the truth making it out and that I can say is a shame. sigh

[Newsjock]

17. Thanks

... for the kind words. I still hope that, someday soon, we will be able to learn -- and tell -- the truth of the past eight years. Only one thing is certain: No matter how bad we believe it's been, it's actually been far, far worse ... and the details will shock every citizen of the world.

[WilliamPitt]

20. Something like this, you either know it applies to you or you don't.

It doesn't apply to you. I have never, ever, ever seen you on TV.

[Newsjock]

25. I wasn't on TV, but my front page was on CNN

We caught our folks in Iraq doing something really slimy, and we put it at the top of our front page. My boss was interviewed on CNN about it.

The speculation is that I got onto the terror watch list because of that incident.

[tavalon]

57. Ouch!

I almost left nursing 6 years ago for much the same reason. With the beginning of a new era in the care of my autistic son, it has dredged up a lot of pain. I feel like Lady Macbeth, though what I did, I did without knowing I was doing something awful, but it's done now and there are children out there who are locked in their minds because of me. I don't know how many and it's so damn hard to get those spots off. Out damn spot. I don't know how to atone, or forget or forgive myself. I have nothing to offer in way of advice, your comments just touched a painful place for me.

It is easy to generalize because so many were such tools but we do know that not everyone was and we also know that those voices were silenced so it made it look even more like the whole mainstream media was culpable. Will is rightfully angry at the msm right now, but even he knows that not everyone was complicit.

[mntleo2]

76. Thank-you Newsjock!

...while Will is right that there was a roar, there were the still small voices drowning out REAL journalists who were trying to tell the truth like you!

Please know that there are nobodies like me who hungered for your voice and searched for you online because there was absolutely nothing on television, in newspapers, or on the radio anywhere. It was a desert for someone like me thirsting for real news. Often during that time, I wondered if I just was looking for someone who was "speaking to the choir" instead of real news, except sometimes the ignored facts convinced me otherwise from writers like you. I cannot thank you enough for having the courage to speak up and the guts to use your pen while the bubble heads were making many of us wretch to watch them falling all over themselves ~ like when Bu$h was wearing a codpiece and prancing around on the flight deck pretending the war was won. You were and are appreciated!

Also it is funny how the Truth with a capitol "T" always seems to surface doesn't it? I am SO glad you were there, it is because of the likes of you that the Truth finally came out. If you had not been there, perhaps the Truth would not have seen the likes of day.

I am serious here, you were the true American for speaking out when it was actually hard to do ~ but your compatriots still were scumbags for calling themselves journalists refusing to tell the truth as is their American duty, they threw people like you under the bus. We see what you did and appreciate it ~ but I know I for one am still angry about the myriads of others of your profession who did not have your quality and who in essence stabbed you in the back ~ as btw they also did to Will.

Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!

Cat In Seattle

[defendandprotect]

91. Rather than "journalists," I think we have to begin calling them corporate-reporters . . .

[Subdivisions]

6. Hell, Will. Even you are a better journalist than those

Weekly World News rejects on CNN, MSNBC, FAUX, et el.

[Kaleko]

9. Way to pay a compliment

:wtf:

[hvn_nbr_2]

7. They're so accustomed to lying that they've become a parody of themselves. nt

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

8. Exactly and in about 7 minutes or so one of the biggest

assholes in the MSM will be pontificating on NBC Nightly News.

Great job, Will :applause: :applause:

[mmonk]

10. An elective war is seldom sold without a willing press

to advertise it.

[blm]

101. Unfortunately, Bill Clinton and many of his security people helped Bush sell that war and

I believe Clinton lied to DC Dems about the 'evidence' he claimed to see that led him to support Bush agenda for war. I believe he lied to his fellow Dems and to us.

[matcom]

12. fuck reading all that Will. The POINT is....

*WE* were RIGHT and *WE* have known it all ALONG!

remember that DOUCHEBAG who razzed you for the upside down flag on that street corner? Remember him asking me for my "service number" after I told him I was a Vet?

:rofl:

[WilliamPitt]

21. Like it happened yesterday

Remember the MSNBC producer who wanted me to come on and talk shit about the weapons inspectors 24 hours after they'd started their inspection?

Fuckers.

[matcom]

32. Fuck Them ALL!

GAWD pal, WE should be running the country!

:rofl:

I LOVE it that they all are trying to explain the egg on their faces right now.

I'll piss on ALL of their graves someday

[tavalon]

58. So we were right

We knew we were right but a million Iraqi's still died and many, many others. Thousands of Americans have died and many times that have lost limbs or parts of their souls. There is no victory in my heart.

[calimary]

13. Kicked and HIGHLY recommended!

"...And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead."

Hot damn, Will!

EXCELLENT! Looks like you've added to that rogues' gallery list of quotes you once posted here. Another one I'm gonna have to print out now. I taped the last collection to my wall in my office.

:thumbsup:

:patriot:

:kick:

[eleny]

14. A treasure chest of shame - Thanks Will

K&R

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

15. I wish Michael Moore would do a film on the media complicity in the lead up to the war

I'm sure he would have so much video footage to pick through that it would be hard to choose.

[Doityourself]

18. FREAKIN' EXCELLENT!

[Old and In the Way]

19. They can run, but they can't hide!

A video collection of these quotes would be a great U-Tube hit and an important point for the historical record. Great compilation, Will! :toast:

[Bozita]

22. Outfuckingstanding!

Thanks, Will.

[warren pease]

23. Remember when Ari warned mass media, and the rest of us in the peasantry, that...

... that in times like these "people have to watch what they say and watch what they do."

I guess the assholes took him at his word.


Really great compilation, Will. Thanks for all your "hurd wurk."


wp

[Maureen1322]

63. My first clue that something was wrong with this war

happened at work. When I asked what would happened if no WMD's were found, the office actually erupted. My co-workers were angry and seemed confused by the question. I no longer work there and I wonder if they remember that day as clearer as I do.

[defendandprotect]

92. One of my biggest shocks/laughs has been the idea being sold that . . .

"if America gets out" . . . the "other nations will fight on without us anyway!" . . . WHAAAT?

But, it's uncomfortable to think about fellow citizens being this brainwashed ---

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. Bravo Will!

[rocktivity]

26. Everyone on this list should RECUSE THEMSELVES

from any further coverage of the Bush White house or the combat in Iraq and Afghanistan!

:mad:
rocknation

[tavalon]

59. Recuse themselves from public life.

[Ichingcarpenter]

27. Thanks Will..... glad it got your goat back

excellant resource too. I hope you link it and write
a huge opinion piece on it.

[KSinTX]

28. Hey, Will - it's the power of the press release

and an incredibly lazy press!

Thanks for that it's a great read!

[ms liberty]

29. Yea. What he said! K&R n/t

[HughMoran]

30. Somebody's been taking notes

Unfortunately, it WASN'T the people who are supposed to keep us informed.

[Psyop Samurai]

31. Thank you, and I hope you're on the committee...

...that is compiling the definitive war crimes dossier.

To our enduring horror, however, the complicity is not confined to the official propagandists. The "citizenry" is also guilty beyond measure, and there will not be anything remotely approaching justice. Nonetheless, I support any measures taken in that direction.

Myself, I'm far past that point. I want DAMAGES. And I want them from the pockets of anyone guilty of perpetrating or supporting the criminal fraud in any way. Any lawyers out there? I have suffered severe, life-altering trauma. I have a mind and a conscience, and I've been where Mr. Pitt is here for over five years. Unfortunately, I don't have his talent or connections. I've had nothing to take it out on but myself.

[windoe]

33. Awesome. No more memory hole!!!!!!

Writers who lied their way through the last administration would love to just quietly slip into the sunset. Or write a book so they can attempt to explain why they lied. Interesting times, winds are changing.

[calimary]

47. Yes. NO. MORE. MEMORY. HOLE. I just wrote about this for Huffington Post!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-lyon/the-i-didnt-do-it-letter_b_103952.html

It is up to us to keep track, and GENUINELY to keep them honest (something that's been reduced to some trite, cheap-ass slogan on CNN, thank you Anderson Cooper. :eyes:

Rachel Maddow said a few weeks ago that maybe a little mortification is good for the soul - as in - we make sure they know WE know - how hideously they avoided their duty as watchdogs, NOT lapdogs. GROSS DERELICTION OF DUTY.

I'll say this much: I remember reading somewhere here - how a few in the mainstream media began to realize they'd gone really soft on bush - mainly because it finally occurred to them, WAY after the fact, that perhaps they'd gone a "little" overboard persecuting Bill Clinton. So they were in a mood to back off and play nice. Just watch: I half expect some of 'em to come to the conclusion that, well, they did go kinda easy on bush, so they'll be damned sure not to make that mistake with the next president. So they'll pile on Obama, until they realize, again, that they may have gone a little rough on him, and when the next president takes office (especially if it's a republi-CON), well, then it'll be time to repent and pull on the kid gloves (and the presidential kneepads) again. That's how they work. That's how they think. Simplistic, if at all.

[many a good man]

34. News divisions as profit centers

While I question whether there ever was a "golden age" of news in America, there was once a time when the newspapers and the news divisions of television networks were not expected to be a source of profits. It was in the olden days, back before the repeal of the fairness doctrine. Our future is now sealed.

[tmoore411]

35. And yet these same "geniuses" have coronated Obama and now

everything that is said or printed by them is the "gospel". Give it a rest, sell me a shitbag once, shame on you, try to sell me another and I'll kick shit in your face. You can't denigrate the media for the Iraq war run-up and not see the parallels with the campaign season (unless you are drunk on the kool-aid) but just my $.02 on the matter. Also, you do realize most of the media outlets you have "exposed" are used here everyday to batter the Clintons and prop Obama up right ??

I'm just sayin', and fully expect the flaming, but I only come in here to see what the newest "outrage" is to see how over the edge the left side of the party has gotten while propping up the "liar in waiting"

It is kinda funny when you think about it tho, off the subject...Obama is Forrest Gump (in that he or his family has been involved in EVERY American milestone in the last 50-60 years to hear him tell it, at least until it is utterly debunked on the internet and his campaign comes back out to tell everyone what he REALLY meant) and you are all on the kool-aid and will be "devastated" when he loses (or blame Clinton, another popular meme around here) instead of standing back and looking at the utter chaos you and he have created in the name of "new politics" and "change/hope".

Peace out cultists.

[ClusterFreak]

51. He disrupted poorly. n/t

[tavalon]

60. Wrong forum dude

STFU, please.

[Mnemosyne]

36. Judas, an apt description of each and every "reporter" from M$M. Can we add traitors to

that?

Hey Will, BRAVA!

Thank you. :hug:

[Auntie Bush]

37. As soon as I started reading this pargraph...I knew it was something the misogynist

Chris Matthews would say! Sure "nuff... it was!

"We're proud of our president. Americans love having a guy as president, a guy who has a little swagger, who's physical, who's not a complicated guy like Clinton or even like Dukakis or Mondale, all those guys, McGovern. They want a guy who's president. Women like a guy who's president. Check it out. The women like this war. I think we like having a hero as our president. It's simple. We're not like the Brits."
(MSNBC's Chris Matthews, 5/1/03)

He make me want to :puke:

Lou Dobbs isn't much better. They are both woman haters!

"He looked like an alternatively commander in chief, rock star, movie star, and one of the guys."
(CNN's Lou Dobbs, on Bush's 'Mission Accomplished' speech, 5/1/03)

Funny how whenever anyone used to say anything positive about Chris...they would be burnt toast. Now that he hates Hillary...he's the best. Every thing he says is gospel truth. Just wait till he starts saying mushy things about McCain after he puts Hillary away...It will be his turn to get thrown under the bus again and he deserves it. To hear him now you would think he has always been against this war. What a hypocrite!

He's also wrong about woman wanting war and a man to run it!

"Women like a guy who's president. Check it out. The women like this war. I think we like having a hero as our president. It's simple. We're not like the Brits."

[Eric Condon]

38. The day after the 2004 election, I posted these lyrics in my blog

underneath a picture of Bu$h smiling, giving a thumbs up and a picture of a mutilated Iraqi child.

There was also a line that I highlighted, but I won't bother to mention which one.

[ancient_nomad]

39. This is just the BEST post.....

Thank you, Will Pitt!

[micraphone]

40. Brilliant! So much info...

K & R..

[DesertRat]

41. Excellent! K&R

[DeepModem Mom]

42. K&R

[bluesbassman]

43. A true rogues gallery Will.

This collection should be required reading for every HS student in America. The ability to question authority requires the skill of critical thinking. These quotes surely provide the contrast of reality to unabashed bullshit.

As for the quote from "Tweety" Matthews: "We're all neo-cons now". Words have not yet been conceived that describe the revulsion that his comment causes. I'm convinced that history will illuminate the so-called neo-con movement to be the most treasonous, corrupt and destructive assemblage of human waste to ever plague a civilization. ROT IN HELL MATTHEWS!

[DrZeeLit]

44. OMG... amazing... I'm tearful, thankful, awed, and silent -- with sadness and gratitude.

You humble the best and the brightest, the high and the mighty, the saint and the sinner.
I love your work. You have always moved me to be the best that I can be in this fight.
Thank you.

If you ever think you are not doing what the universe has created you for, do think again, WilliamPitt!

[proReality]

45. Absolutely beautiful!!! eom

[Kool Kitty]

46. One completely asshat statement that I remember

vividly was spoken by Tom Brokaw-about the soldiers not wanting to do much damage because "we are going to own this country". The country being Iraq. This was the first night of the war, as "shock and awe" was happening.

[Enthusiast]

52. I will never forget

I will never forget the excitement in Jr. Bush's eyes. When shock and awe happened he had stars in his eyes. He was intoxicated with happiness. The media talking heads did also. And Bush's approval rating was through the roof. Americans must love war. No, I must not think that. I choose to believe the American people bought into all the WMD propaganda and were so happy and relieved to be saved from certain destruction. At the time I felt like it was all a total crock of shit. I could see right through every lying son of a bitch they stuck in front of a camera. Turned out I was right all along. Millions of us could see through their bullshit. However, I have to wonder about my fellow citizens that bought into the lies. They are good 'merkins, I guess.

[balantz]

48. K&R

:thumbsup: Thank you WilliamPitt


:thumbsdown:
:hide:
Burn for eternity, war pigs

[chknltl]

49. There are many reasons for me to take pride in being a DUer

Mr. Pitt is one of the chief reasons. Thank you for being here William Pitt, once again you enrich us all.

KnR and bookmarked for future use and be assured: this piece will get future use!

[ClusterFreak]

50. Best. Post. Ever.

Kicked hard in the ass and rec-the-fuck-o-mended with extreme enthusiasm!!!
:kick: :thumbsup:

[Ztarbod]

53. Too much shit!

Congress had no justification for their authorization of the invasion of Iraq, plain and simple.

[VolcanoJen]

54. Hear, Hear, Mr. Pitt!

Watching David Gregory all squirmy and defensive today was just nauseating, wasn't it?

Oh, our Liberal Media is SO Awesome.

[Nostradammit]

55. Hell Fucking Yes

Thanks for summing it up, Will.


"And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead"



What Dylan said, too.

[tavalon]

56. You, my friend,

are a Murrow and an Olbermann and a Cronkite and a Moyers and while there is a huge liklihood that you will never reach their level of fame because life is just that fickle, you long since reached their level of integrity. I've watched you lose it sometimes but you're just human. Have you heard about Olbermann's tantrums? LOL. You are a journalist but you are not one of "them". Strange place to be, I would think. More than a journalist, though, Will, you are a patriot, one of our better patriots.

I'm going to be stepping out (already mostly have - my partner keeps me up to date on the most egregious offenses) because I need to try to heal my child. It is a focusing and gentling place. Nothing like embarking on such an endeavor to hone my priorities. I'm as angry as you are when I think about it, I just don't have much time to think about it right now, but I've been as furious as you, many, many times and I will see you at the barricades if it comes to that. But weirdly, I'm kind of glad to have something else to focus on right now. My heart aches a bit for you because it is so hard to watch these disgusting media pigs preen and fawn when we know they have shit in their hair from having shoved their heads so far up their corporate masters' butts.

Keep strength, Will, we need you now and we will need you even more in the future, possibly very soon. Why don't you go to the cabin? And maybe when you get back, you'll have a Cheney impeachment to cover. Wouldn't that be something?

[Duer 157099]

61. There should be plenty of bellyaches from eating all them words

Man I'm stuffed just looking at them!

[Echo In Light]

68. Belly fulla bellicose rhetoric. M$M is fucking EVIL; they are the enablers of War Pigs....

Ratings grubbing war profiteers! Without their steadfast willingness to sell out humanity and open democracy by obediently lying on behalf of fascists with ulterior police state agendas, the War Pigs would have a tough sell on their hands.

[jcla]

62. Thank you, WillPitt!

K & R. Too many people forget....

[gademocrat7]

64. K & R

Thank you Mr.Pitt.

[DailyGrind51]

65. Makes one wonder?

Why so little scrutiny of Bush's past, when we knew all about Bill Clinton's letter regarding his attitude towards serving in the military, his "I didn't inhale" comment on pot use, his affair with Gennifer Flowers, etc.? Yet, when Dan Rather even dared to cast doubts on Bush's 'Guard Service, CBS canned him.

Great post! Thanks!

[DemVet]

66. Statements that are much worse:

"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to
develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them.
That is our bottom line."
President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998


"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We
want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass
destruction program."
President Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998


Iraq is a long way from , but what happens there matters a great deal
here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear,
chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest
security threat we face."
Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998


"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times
since 1983."
Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb,18,1998


"We urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the
U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if
appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond
effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of
mass destruction programs."
Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI), Tom
Daschle (D-SD), John Kerry( D - MA), and others Oct. 9, 1998


"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass
destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he
has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process."
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D,CA), Dec. 16, 1998


"Hussein has .. chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass
destruction and palaces for his cronies."
Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999


"There is no doubt that ... Saddam Hussein has invigorated his weapons
programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs
continue at apace and may be back to pre-Gulf War status. In addition,
Saddam continues to redefine delivery systems and is doubtless using the
cover of an illicit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that
will threaten the United States and our allies."
Letter to President Bush, Signed by Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL,) and others,
Dec . 5, 2001


"We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and threat
to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandates of
the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the
means of delivering them."
Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002


"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical
weapons throughout his country."
Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002
"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to
deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is
in power."
Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002


"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing
weapons of mass destruction."
Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27,2002


"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are
confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and
biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to
build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence
reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons..."
Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002


"I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority
to use force-- if necessary-- to disarm Saddam Hussein because believe
that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a
real and grave threat to our security."
Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002


"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively
to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the
next five years .. We also should remember we have always underestimated
the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass
destruction."
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002


"He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years,
every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and
destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This
he has refused to do"
Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002


"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show
that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological
weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He
has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al
Qaeda members.. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam
Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and
chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons."
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10,2002


"We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam
Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for
the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction."
Sen. Bob Graham (D,FL), Dec. 8, 2002


"Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal,
murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a
particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to
miscalculation ..And now he is miscalculating America's response to his
continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction
... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is
real."
Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA),Jan.23. 2003



One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line."
President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998


"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program."
President Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998


Iraq is a long way from , but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face."
Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998


"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983."
Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb,18,1998


"e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if
appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond
effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of
mass destruction programs."
Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI), Tom
Daschle (D-SD), John Kerry( D - MA), and others Oct. 9, 1998


"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process."
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D,CA), Dec. 16, 1998


"Hussein has .. chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies."
Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999


"There is no doubt that ... Saddam Hussein has invigorated his weapons programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs continue at apace and may be back to pre-Gulf War status. In addition, Saddam continues to redefine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of an illicit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the United States and our allies."
Letter to President Bush, Signed by Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL,) and others,
Dec . 5, 2001




"We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandates of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the
means of delivering them."
Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002


"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country."
Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002

"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power."
Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002


"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction."
Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27,2002



"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are
confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons..."
Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002



"I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force-- if necessary-- to disarm Saddam Hussein because believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security."
Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002



"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years .. We also should remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction."
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002



"He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years,
every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and
destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do"
Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002



"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show
that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members.. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons."
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10,2002




"We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction."
Sen. Bob Graham (D,FL), Dec. 8, 2002



"Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal,
murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a
particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to
miscalculation ..And now he is miscalculating America's response to his
continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction ... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real."
Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA),Jan.23. 2003

[DemVet]

67. Also:

On the Joint Resolution (H.J.Res. 114 )
Vote Date: October 11, 2002, 12:50 AM
A joint resolution to authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against Iraq.

Alphabetical by Senator Name

Baucus (D-MT), Yea
Bayh (D-IN), Yea
Biden (D-DE), Yea
Breaux (D-LA), Yea
Cantwell (D-WA), Yea
Carnahan (D-MO), Yea
Carper (D-DE), Yea
Cleland (D-GA), Yea
Clinton (D-NY), Yea
Corzine (D-NJ), Nay
Daschle (D-SD), Yea
Dodd (D-CT), Yea
Domenici (R-NM), Yea
Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Edwards (D-NC), Yea
Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Harkin (D-IA), Yea
Hollings (D-SC), Yea
Inouye (D-HI), Nay
Johnson (D-SD), Yea
Kerry (D-MA), Yea
Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Landrieu (D-LA), Yea
Lieberman (D-CT), Yea
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
Miller (D-GA), Yea
Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Reid (D-NV), Yea
Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea
Schumer (D-NY), Yea
Torricelli (D-NJ), Yea

[DailyGrind51]

97. Clinton & Company got their info from some familiar sources.

Archived from: http://www.newamericancentury.org/iraqclintonletter.htm

PNAC letters sent to President Bill Clinton

January 26, 1998

The Honorable William J. Clinton
President of the United States
Washington, DC

Dear Mr. President:

We are writing you because we are convinced that current American policy toward Iraq is not succeeding, and that we may soon face a threat in the Middle East more serious than any we have known since the end of the Cold War. In your upcoming State of the Union Address, you have an opportunity to chart a clear and determined course for meeting this threat. We urge you to seize that opportunity, and to enunciate a new strategy that would secure the interests of the U.S. and our friends and allies around the world. That strategy should aim, above all, at the removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime from power. We stand ready to offer our full support in this difficult but necessary endeavor.

The policy of “containment” of Saddam Hussein has been steadily eroding over the past several months. As recent events have demonstrated, we can no longer depend on our partners in the Gulf War coalition to continue to uphold the sanctions or to punish Saddam when he blocks or evades UN inspections. Our ability to ensure that Saddam Hussein is not producing weapons of mass destruction, therefore, has substantially diminished. Even if full inspections were eventually to resume, which now seems highly unlikely, experience has shown that it is difficult if not impossible to monitor Iraq’s chemical and biological weapons production. The lengthy period during which the inspectors will have been unable to enter many Iraqi facilities has made it even less likely that they will be able to uncover all of Saddam’s secrets. As a result, in the not-too-distant future we will be unable to determine with any reasonable level of confidence whether Iraq does or does not possess such weapons.


Such uncertainty will, by itself, have a seriously destabilizing effect on the entire Middle East. It hardly needs to be added that if Saddam does acquire the capability to deliver weapons of mass destruction, as he is almost certain to do if we continue along the present course, the safety of American troops in the region, of our friends and allies like Israel and the moderate Arab states, and a significant portion of the world’s supply of oil will all be put at hazard. As you have rightly declared, Mr. President, the security of the world in the first part of the 21st century will be determined largely by how we handle this threat.


Given the magnitude of the threat, the current policy, which depends for its success upon the steadfastness of our coalition partners and upon the cooperation of Saddam Hussein, is dangerously inadequate. The only acceptable strategy is one that eliminates the possibility that Iraq will be able to use or threaten to use weapons of mass destruction. In the near term, this means a willingness to undertake military action as diplomacy is clearly failing. In the long term, it means removing Saddam Hussein and his regime from power. That now needs to become the aim of American foreign policy.

We urge you to articulate this aim, and to turn your Administration's attention to implementing a strategy for removing Saddam's regime from power. This will require a full complement of diplomatic, political and military efforts. Although we are fully aware of the dangers and difficulties in implementing this policy, we believe the dangers of failing to do so are far greater. We believe the U.S. has the authority under existing UN resolutions to take the necessary steps, including military steps, to protect our vital interests in the Gulf. In any case, American policy cannot continue to be crippled by a misguided insistence on unanimity in the UN Security Council.

We urge you to act decisively. If you act now to end the threat of weapons of mass destruction against the U.S. or its allies, you will be acting in the most fundamental national security interests of the country. If we accept a course of weakness and drift, we put our interests and our future at risk.

Sincerely,

Elliott Abrams Richard L. Armitage William J. Bennett

Jeffrey Bergner John Bolton Paula Dobriansky

Francis Fukuyama Robert Kagan Zalmay Khalilzad

William Kristol Richard Perle Peter W. Rodman

Donald Rumsfeld William Schneider, Jr. Vin Weber

Paul Wolfowitz R. James Woolsey Robert B. Zoellick

Archived from: http://www.newamericancentury.org/iraqclintonletter.htm

[OneGrassRoot]

69. "This is your party. Choke on it." Absofrigginlutely.

A big K&R, Will. Thanks!

[Echo In Light]

70. "We are willing to accept lies if they make our lives easier. "

~ Producer from the TV series "People's Century", opining on why Americans tolerate unjust and inhumane U.S. government policies, at home and abroad.
===================================

"The media serve the interests of state and corporate power, which are closely interlinked, framing their reporting and analysis in a manner supportive of established privilege and limiting debate and discussion accordingly ... The rascal multitude are the proper targets of the mass media and a public education system geared to obedience and training in needed skills, including the skill of repeating patriotic slogans on timely occasions ... Any dictator would admire the uniformity and obedience of the (U.S.) media." ~ Noam Chomsky
===================================

"Like blackbirds in flight, packs of reporters darken the sky, moving in swarms at the same speed and in predictable trajectory. When one lands, they all land. When one leaves, they all leave.

The programmers and channel controllers from all the stations are part of the same well-paid elite, steeped in the same values, committed to the mission of maximizing audience share and profits. They are chosen for their ability to play the game and not challenge the audience with too many controversial ideas or critical perspectives. It's no surprise that they circulate easily within the commanding heights of media power, moving from company to company and job to job.

A kind of group think corporate consensus, steeped in market logic and deeply inbred by an un-brave news culture, breeds conscience-free conformity and self-censorship.

This makes frightening sense in a globalized economy where consumerism is more desired than active citizenship, where power is increasingly concentrated and the public is increasingly unwelcome in a public discourse defined by the powerful. If your goal is to numb people and drive them away from active participation, then TV as "weapon of mass distraction" and wall to wall entertainment makes sense. Shut up and shop is the now the message, one that makes sense to advertiser dominated media outlets... " ~ Danny Schechter, Dung on all their Houses, Toward Freedom magazine, December / January 2000
===============================

"The modern susceptibility to conformity and obedience to authority indicates that the truth endorsed by authority is likely to be accepted as such by a majority of people, who are innately obedient to authority. This obedience-truth will then become a consensus-truth accepted by many individuals unable to stand alone against the majority. In this way, the truth promulgated by the propaganda system - however irrational - stands a good chance of becoming the consensus, and may come to seem self-evident common sense." ~ David Edwards, author of Burning All Illusions

[Mad_Dem_X]

71. The MSM is full of traitors.

Fuck them! I am so glad I don't watch the news on TV.

That song is brilliant, BTW. Pearl Jam does a good version of it too. "All the money you made will never buy back your soul." A-MEN!

[snappyturtle]

72. K&R Perfect! Thanks. n/t

[bagrman]

73. To bad everyones to worried about keeping their house instead of their Country free.

[xiamiam]

74. brilliant ..and more than a reminder of those who led the drumbeat to war..

because they will try to slither out of any responsibility..but i love these quotes and each and every one of them should be held accountable for their role..matthews, dobbs, scarborough, fleischer, and scotty, couric, etc...they have blood on their hands..and we were forced to watch them lie to us until katrina and cindy sheehan..two forces of nature that happened one august..until then, no one on msm was speaking anything close to the truth...we were huddled together here as a fringe element..remember?...and now they see the light?...give me a friggin break...

[ExPatLeftist]

75. Great point, and excellent research.

Thanks for this!

And for the Dylan quote - I just saw him play Monday here in Reykjavík. :)

[A-Long-Little-Doggie]

77. Wow, Will

Do you think they ever go back over these things that they said, and recognize the evil that they allowed to flourish? To see their complicity in the deaths of thousands of our troops and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis?

[Seabiscuit]

78. Nice compilation. I don't know how some people here have the patience to put this kind of thing

together.

[FutureDemocrat]

79. Wow, I almost cried reading these quotes

I went to college for journalism and began interning/reporting at a conservative newspaper in 2003, and I quit in 2005 because of the politics involved. I now work in a library.

It just hurts remembering how all my hopes and dreams of being a journalist were crushed because of politics. Perhaps if I had gone to college in a more liberal town with a more liberal newspaper.....Naw, it looks like even the supposed liberal reporters were cheering on the war.

[pipi_k]

80. What's making me smile down to my underpants...

Seeing the sly, smug veneers usually present on the faces of Bush enablers finally come off.

I can't say how many times I've wanted to slap the everlovin' crap out of some self-satisfied little Republican asshole on TV smiling smiling smiling while lying through his or her teeth.

Now it looks like they're gritting their teeth and steam is coming out of their ears and the veins are bulging out of their heads (Frances Townsend was a hoot yesterday...she looked so upset I thought her eyes were going to pop out and fall on her lap).

And of course Bush just has too many "more important" things to do (as they all do, no doubt) to spend much time commenting. The poor little simian probably can't formulate two coherent sentences about it.

So there's Snotty McClellan making them all look like the liars we already know they are, and there's Karl Rove comparing him to a "left wing blogger" and people are accusing Snotty of being "disgruntled" (oh, no shit Sherlock...happy people write negative things about the people they thought they could trust?????) and there's McCain looking for all the world like he's the idealistic clone of George "Mr Chimpy" Bush.

They've got to be going absolutely nuts right about now, hoping the American people are as stupid as they've always treated us.

[The Wizard]

98. Scottie is just

insulating himself in the event of war crimes tribunals in the Hague.

[KoKo]

81. K&R....

[ensho]

82. KICK

nt

[redqueen]

83. "Good work, shitdogs. Burn in Hell. Slowly."

A-fucking-men.

[kentuck]

84. Good job, WillPitt.

K & R !

[shagsak]

85. thanks alot

right after breakfast, now I have to go puke. THANKS WILL!

[CaptJasHook]

86. K$R, You Da Man Pitt

[mod mom]

87. Wars based on lies is what you get when there is silence over fraudulent elections. nt

[AikidoSoul]

88. K & Rd... and bookkmarked. N?T

[Barrymores Ghost]

89. This is ALL you could come up with?

Now I know how you spent halftime...

Bookmarked, kicked and rec'd.

:toast:

[pleah]

90. K&R and Thank You!

:applause:

[chill_wind]

93. Wish we could keep this on the Front Page *permanently*. K&R and Bookmarked.

Thank you, William Rivers Pitt. THANK YOU.

[Mongooseflies]

94. WOW WOW WOW

What an incredibly comprehensive breakdown.
Thank you on behalf of all the freedom living Americans everywhere.

[Mojorabbit]

95. Send thhis to

David Gregory.

[RaVeN_MeaD]

96. Amazing post

thanx

[shaniqua6392]

99. That brought tears to my eyes, Will.

What have they done to our country? There has to be a special place in hell for them all. It all just gives me a heartache but thanks for posting it.

[Tikki]

100. Thank You.....

for putting this all out there....

The Tikkis

[govegan]

102. Quite a collection, Mr. P. Wow, just wow...............

Do you think maybe they are ready to give us a rousing rendition of how they will "go no more a roving"?

Right!

[Douglas Carpenter]

103. K&R

[bulloney]

104. I predict there will be a worldwide shortage of crow.

I see an awful lot of it being eaten by the warmongers after reading that lengthy list of quotes.

Thanks for the diggin' William.

[WilliamPitt]

105. One last

[Pale Blue Dot]

106. I used that song in my English class this year!

:woohoo: