Revisionist History

Being one who opposed the war before it started, I am not affected by the Administration's criticism of those who voted in favor of the Iraq Resolution but now oppose the Administration's conduct of the war.

And because I have a B.A. in history, I feel I am more qualified to discuss the history of events leading up to this conflict than Preznit C+ Augustus. Of course, I'm also efficient, so I can make use of the information that's out there for everyone to see. Here's a taste from Knight-Ridder:

ASSERTION: In his speech, Bush noted that "more than a hundred Democrats in the House and the Senate - who had access to the same intelligence - voted to support removing Saddam Hussein from power."

CONTEXT: This isn't true.

The Congress didn't have access to the President's Daily Brief, a top-secret compendium of intelligence on the most pressing national security issues that was sent to the president every morning by former CIA Director George Tenet.

As for prewar intelligence on Iraq, senior administration officials had access to other information and sources that weren't available to lawmakers.

Cheney and his aides visited the CIA and other intelligence agencies to view raw intelligence reports, received briefings and engaged in highly unusual give-and-take sessions with analysts. Moreover, officials in the White House and the Pentagon received information directly from the Iraqi National Congress (INC), an exile group, circumventing U.S. intelligence agencies, which greatly distrusted the organization.

The INC's information came from Iraqi defectors who claimed that Iraq was hiding chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs, had mobile biological-warfare facilities and was training Islamic radicals in assassinations, bombings and hijackings.

The White House emphasized these claims in making its case for war, even though the defectors had shown fabrication or deception in lie-detector tests or had been rejected as unreliable by U.S. intelligence professionals.

All of the exiles' claims turned out to be bogus or remain unproven. (Emphasis added)

One other point - a recent Wall St. Journal/NBC News poll and an AP-Ipsos poll found 57% of Americans believe the Administration misled the country in the lead-up to the war. Does this Administration really want to get into this debate by calling nearly three-fifths of the country "dishonest and reprehensible."