www.justiceblind.com

For Bush Administration, Everyday is Opposite Day

Matthew Robinson, PhD

I finally understand why I almost always disagree with President Bush and members of his Administration. They are living in opposite day. Every day.

Which is why virtually everything they say is the opposite of the truth.

For example, President Bush is still asking Americans to be patient about Iraq. Yet, the war is already longer than our involvement in World War II. Further, Bush officials said the war would pay for itself but it has cost taxpayers nearly $400 billion.

And it was President Bush himself who said we already accomplished the mission. This was nearly four years ago! At that time, we had lost only 139 American military personnel (now, more than 3,000 have died).

Another example –– President Bush blames Democrats for not offering an alternative to his plan of surging troops in Iraq. When Democrats unveiled their plan, it got a veto threat! Further, the Iraq Study Group long ago released a plan specifying how to win and how to get out of Iraq. Bush Administration officials have done nothing in response.

Here’s another –– Vice President Cheney claims that withdrawing troops from Iraq would be disastrous. In fact, invading Iraq was disastrous. Our presence is what caused instability in the region, not our leaving! We removed from power the lid on the pressure cooker of Iraq. Ironically, Saddam Hussein’s death is the primary reason why Iraq is so out of control.

Similarly, Bush Administration officials claim that leaving Iraq would endanger the United States. Actually, it is our occupation that endangers us, as well as the rest of the world.

Letters from deputies of Osama bin Laden (remember him?) show their goal is to sustain the war, not end it. The war is precisely what bin Laden wanted and al-Qaeda is successfully using the war as a recruitment device. Stated simply, the war is bad for us, but good for them.

Remember that claim about wanting bin Laden dead or alive? Back in September 2001, President Bush said “I want justice. And there's an old poster out West… I recall, that said, 'Wanted, Dead or Alive.'" More than five years and still no bin Laden?

You’ve heard consistent claims from Bush and company that the Iraq war made the world safer. In fact, worldwide act of terrorism are up! People are thus less safe, not more.

And Bush Administration officials still deny that Iraq is in a civil war. President Bush recently said, “It's not a civil war, it is pure evil.” But, scholars agree that what is occurring in Iraq is in fact a civil war and has been for some time.

Remember when President Bush said the “US does not torture”? Actually, we now know that high level Bush administration officials actually authorized torture, and they did it in writing! In fact, numerous admissions of “terrorists” in US custody were the result of our torture. How reliable are their claims?

Trying to make sense out of all of this?

Well, these are the same people who said there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq which posed a “grave and gathering threat” against the United States (wrong), that Saddam Hussein was close to getting nuclear weapons (nope, not close at all), that Hussein was trying to obtain uranium from Niger (this was based on a forged document), and that Hussein was linked to al-Qaeda (actually, they were bitter enemies).

These are the same people who said that there were no warning signs suggesting terrorists would use commercial airliners to crash into buildings. Actually, there were dozens of warnings, and some very specific. Don’t believe me? Check it out: http://www.justiceblind.com/airplanes.html

This is the same president who said, while visiting Vietnam, that the primary lesson of the Vietnam war was we should have never left! Imagine that –– telling the Vietnamese that we should have stayed and killed more of you people in order to win.

The only way I can make sense out of this is finally seeing that President Bush and key members of his administration are living in opposite day. Every day.

No, they’re not knowingly lying. They just don’t know the truth when they see it.