In what was a remarkable admission that contradicted – to a large extent – the past statements from his onetime boss, former Bush strategist Karl Rove said on Tuesday evening that had the President known Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction, the United States would not have gone to war.
“In the aftermath of 9/11 the concern was about a tyrant accused of enormous human rights abuses,” but who also possessed weapons of mass destruction, said Rove. “Absent that, I suspect that the administration’s course of action would have been to work to find more creative ways to constrain him like in the 90s.”
The remarks, delivered at a debate in New York on Bush’s legacy, came amidst a vigorous defense by Rove on behalf of the war’s purpose and outcome. At no point was it mentioned that the administration — specifically Vice President Dick Cheney — reportedly advanced faulty or poorly sourced information to fit the conclusion that Iraq possessed WMD, or that intelligence reports from the run-up to the war suggested that such a case was flimsy. Later in the event, Rove argued that Saddam Hussein was supporting terrorism, poised a grave threat to the region, and had systematically duped the international community into assuming he was armed.
“He told his interrogators it made him look big in the neighborhood,” said Rove, before noting all of the Democratic officials who believed as much.
As such, Rove argued, the Bush administration was justified in the course it chose and the world better off for its actions.
Translation: If we’d have known what we didn’t know, we wouldn’t have done what we did.
Okay, we did it, we freed Iraq from a bloody tyrant. Now, where’s our damn peace dividend??
Like, a grateful cash-rich Iraq loaning billions to our strapped industries and providing a very stable price for oil JUST for the USA?!
Angry liberal editor accidentally put this thread in the wrong topic grouping.
Just because you’ve been owned for the past eight years is no reason to get pissy.
As Rumsfeld once said (paraphrased):
There are known knowns, which means we know what we know, then there are known unknowns, where we know that there are things we do not know. Then there are unknown unknowns where we don’t have a F’ing clue about what we don’t know.
I suspect Rumsfeld knew what they didn’t know, but wanted to pass it off as an unknown unknown… but then again, I have no idea.
Rove must know that he’s beyond indictment and conviction now or something.
Since when has a neocon ever admitted failure?
Olberman had an excellent critique of Bush’s similar comments just the other night. Its really a classic, got it on tape. Seems Bush even now doesn’t have a clue what he would have done had he known there was no weapons of mass destruction. He could only come up with “keep looking for better intel.” What a guy.
Then lets just not forget that Cheney was creating his own custom made erroneous intelligence that he could erroneously rely on.
No justice until all of the Bush team is IN JAIL!!! Won’t happen unless they travel overseas. Imagine that–a whole management team that can’t travel overseas once they are out of office. Gives Zorkor a hard on for sure.
#2. James Hills “Angry liberal editor accidentally put this thread in the wrong topic grouping.
Just because you’ve been owned for the past eight years is no reason to get pissy.”
Hah! Stay classy James. BTW, get some new material, yours is starting to get stale.
The BS detector needs an upgrade to display a 100X BS scale. It’s pegged so hard the needle is bending.
#2 Wrong . The thread is exactly where it belongs – under ‘crime’. It was either that or could be filed under “Death”, “Lies”, or “Fat Pigs”.
Either way, this is just more Republican party repair attempt of their trashed “brand”. They need to start with Bush. Good luck with that.
I love these folks,
They SAY 9/11 and IRAQ in the same sentence..
THEY ARE NOT RELATED..
Iraq was a nation GOVERNED by terror, and LIVED in terror.
Figure this out..
5 GROUPS that dont get along, TRYING to live NEAR each other.. HOW do you keep them from KILLING EACH OTHER.. SHOOT THEM. SCARE THE HELL out of them.. then run around with 5 COPIES of yourself, SO, you dont get SHOT..
Rove’s comments struck me in two ways.
1. Rove can actually make up his mind while Bush apparently cannot (which clues us into who was really in charge), and
2. Rove is positioning himself as the most “moderate” of the Bush team.
This leads me to conclude that we are going to see a lot more of Rove as time goes on.
#6 – Already number one so why try harder? 😉
#8 – Image repair? This is Rove keeping his name in the press, since he’ll be making his living on appearance fees for a few years. The left does the same thing when they fall out of power.
Don’t be angry about the right. Obama’s going to fix all of that, with the same hacks Clinton couldn’t get anything done with. Good luck with that.
#10–Ah Yea==I agree. Rove is fascinating to watch. Very driven and partisan, but he does weave in and deal with reality. His reality however includes several “lies” and positions that don’t withstand scrutiny. When your position starts with a lie or political position, it doesn’t really matter how reasonable and factual you are thereafter.
Bottom line==was a military response to Iraq really the right way to go WHATEVER ELSE was present? History shows us “no” but that was excessively clear at the time, current spinning does not cure that central defect.
Another Repuke “Talking out of both sides of his mouth, TELLING LIES OUT OF BOTH SIDES!!!” Its what they do !!! Prick Cheney, the REAL PRESIDENT, had the ATTACK PLANS IN HIS SUPER-SECRET “ENERGY POLICY” FOLDER – you know, the one with the maps of the Iraqi Oil Fields and Wells and the Oil Ministry in Baghdad – WELL BEFORE 9/11 !!!
What a load of crap. Anyone who believes this pathological liar needs help.
Cheney must have been really good to invent intel that the British, with their own agencies also believed. Predictable responses from the libs. In reality, no one lied, and no crimes were committed. Not taking Saddam down would have been a crime given the intel at the time and also given what we now know.
One can only hope we act as morally, honorably and responsibly in the future. The human race depends on it.
#15–Snot==I recall the British having initial reports that included USA sourced material and that later on they actually had suppressed reports not supporting the nuclear threat==a moving target misreported by Bush that fools like you have bought hook, line, and sinker. Is blasterpoop a kind of chum bait or koolaide?
Saddam was fully contained and getting weaker by the month under UN inspections. USA under the UN had an air cap over half the country.
The next “move” legitimately would have been to extend the air cover over the whole country and to increase the number of UN inspectors.
Anything other than that was stupid war mongering stupidity on full display.
Dope!
SnotLikeBlasterpoop – I’m tired of the U.S. being in charge of the human race… it’s to damn expensive.
#15 – SnotPoop
“intel that the British … also believed”???
Come on, you foul ball of mucous and feces. The Brits may have shitty teeth, bad food, and warm beer, but they’re not stupid.
Obviously, you weren’t copied on the “Downing Street memo”. You know, the one where the head of MI6 was reported to have said “Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.” The same memo where the Foreign Secretary said that it was “clear that Bush had “made up his mind” to take military action but that “the case was thin””, and then described Attorney-General Lord Goldsmith as warning that “justifying the invasion on legal grounds would be difficult.”
Those fuckers knew all along that the whole thing was a crock of shit. Just like Rummy, President Cheney-Rove, and all the rest of the dirty, dishonest bastards.
>>In reality, no one lied, and no crimes were
>>committed.
You must be inhaling your own aroma to the point where your brain is receiving no oxygen. Plenty of lies were told, and plenty of crimes were committed, all throughout Dumbya’s reign of idiocy, and those surrounding his trophy war in Iraq are among the biggest and most ethically reprehensible.
The fact that you’re even trying to defend Dumbya and President Cheney-Rove, after all that’s been revealed, suggests to me that you might consider changing your name to “BrainsLikeBlasterPoop”. Or, since I don’t know wtf “blaster poop” is, how about the simple and accurate “ShitFerBrains”? That works.
#17 – Yes it is, but we kind of have to take it on to preserve a planet for ourselves if nothing else. No one else seems to have a clue.
#18 – BlasterPoop is when you gurgle for a while then suddenly blow out a fine multi-directional spray that completely coats the inside of the stool in a uniform layer that has a pleasing shine.
Have you never had diarrhea that could go through a strainer and leave no residue?
#18 – Essentially, it’s poop the consistency of mustard – if that helps any.
#21…yeah, we all sit around and obsess about the consistency of shit.
Wow.
We have to hate Rove because he is the guy responsible for turning a dimwit CEO of a shitty freakin’ baseball team into a governor then into a president based on nothing but wedge issues that appeal to the lowest common denominator. Had it turned out OK, fine. But his dimwit pretty much messed up the entire world.
#21 – SnotPoop
>> a fine multi-directional spray that
>>completely coats the inside of the stool in a
>>uniform layer that has a pleasing shine.
I think you are confusing “stool” with “bowl”. The “stool” is the actual piece of shit.
Odd mistake for you to make, given that you are one yourself.
#21 – SnotPoop
btw, I see you had no comment about the Downing Street memo. I guess you were out of the loop on that one, huh?
Don’t you hate it when that happens? You end up looking like a STOOL.
Bwahahahahahahaha!
15,
Karl? Is that you? How’s it going? Yeah, great. Drop dead.
#21, SnotTooBright
Essentially, it’s poop the consistency of mustard – if that helps any.
Ya, I can see why “shit for brains” works.
Karl Rove is going down. As are the rest of Bush’s crew. Those with law degrees won’t have them for long is Bush pardon’s them. They would have to admit to breaking the law in order to be pardoned.
Since Rove is just some dweeb he won’t suffer. He will be tarnished forever as Bush’s Brain and that won’t be too pleasant a moniker considering how stupid everyone thinks Bush is.
#19 – ShitFerBrains
>>Yes it is, but we kind of have to take it on
>>to preserve a planet for ourselves if nothing
>>else.
Gosh. I almost missed this gem in the fetid stinking pile of snot and poop.
“preserve a planet for ourselves”? Yeah, now THAT is where Dumbya really shows his true mettle. Kyoto treaty, renewable energy, cutting down on pollution, windfall taxes on the oil barons to fund alternative energy technology …. he’s a real superstar in the firmament of planet preservation.
Just ask Christine Todd Whitman.
First I heard of something like that still grosses me out. Seems nursing homes deal with “fecal projectile vomiting” where our oldest loved ones have so little muscle strength that that long tube from mouth to anus really begins to act in ways not pretty.
I get most of the nicks here. I guess if you can’t hold your liquor and continue to drink thereby spending alot of time with your porcelain god, yes, the name would start to make sense.
Still snotty old boy, better to be a stool than a stooge===but BOTH??????
Get a grip.
((PS–remember what the “Special Relationship” is as well. The one where Bushie boy and his poodle “the Born Again but embarassed to Admit It” prime minister Blaring agreed to Pimp for Bush if he would give him warm hugs for Jesus. The religious cabals of one type or another are going to get us eventually if your type of BS ever takes hold more than one election cycle.))
#28 – Exactly. If we don’t preserve the place, it’ll end up like Eurinal – mass transit and apartments – not worthy of Americans.