I kind of expected her to be left of center and my expectations were quickly confirmed when she claimed that due to Iraq, U.S. standing was low throughout the world. Okay fine, it is debatable, let's give her more of a chance. Almost the next sentence was that Bush lied us into this war...Eh, I will be listening to music the rest of the drive home.
There are four formal possibilities concerning WMD at the point in time when Bush claimed Iraq had them:
1. They had all been destroyed in the sanctions regime from the first gulf war.
2. They had WMD but since then they were moved out of the country--like to Syria and are still there now.
3. Or were destroyed since then.
4. Or are hidden in Iraq and not yet found.
I have yet to see any evidence that option one is true AND that President Bush alone knew this. Quite the contrary: When there were a dozen good reasons for invasion, why emphasise the one that he knew was untrue? Why would the one guy smart enough to know Saddam got rid of his WMD (Bush), play-up the WMD threat?
Okay, I don't want this post to end up being a rehash of old arguments, my point is a larger one.
Liberals tell each other that Bush lied. It is objectively untrue that he lied. Everyone they know is in full agreement that Bush lied. Are they lying at this point? No. Not really. It has become conventional wisdom for them. They believe it and have full confidence that what they are claiming is the truth.
Sort of like how everybody thought Iraq had WMD before the war. Eh?
But there are some notable differences between the two cases. First, maybe 50% of people believe that Bush lied, while at most 5-10% believed Saddam was truthful about there being no more WMD. Second, it may actually be true that there were WMD at the time leading up to the war, while it is an almost dead certainty that Bush didn't lie.
So, getting back to philosopher Susan Neiman; why should I care what she has to say? It would be like if a paleontologist came on the radio and started out by saying, "...and as we all know Tom, back when humans hunted T-Rex with spears..."
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First, glad you are listening to NPR, lots of good info and interesting stories. WMD - this is a tough one and I agree with your options. At one time, the UN commission overseeing the destruction said Iraq had weapons left when they were kicked out. I find it amazing though with all of the countries in the world and their human intelligence we never received credible info - doubtful. I also believe though the BUSH had it in his interest to start a war and institute democracy in this part of the world. Unfortunately, 4200 US lives is a very steep price to pay. I am rethinking all conventional wisdom even if they did have WMD due to the $500 Billion+ we lost so far and will never recoup (even though the Iraq budget now shows a surplus... where is their financial payback to us please???) Wolfowitz, Rumsfield, Cheney, and Rowe have alot to tell us and had additional motives! Hopefully when one of them is on their deathbed, one of them will talk. (Not hoping for any of them to expire soon)
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