General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: KRUGMAN: "Bush lied us into war. Let’s repeat that: he lied us into war." [View all]DallasNE
(7,392 posts)Bush got the UN resolution for inspections AND the Congressional authorization to use force should Saddam not comply with the UN resolution and what did he do with that. Well, he went back to the UN a 2nd time for a UN resolution to use force. He couldn't even get a majority of the 15 voting members to approve such a move. In the meantime the UN inspectors combed Iraq high and low and reported by to the UN that Saddam had no WMD and no WMD program for nuclear weapons but asked for additional time tie down the time frame that Saddam destroyed his remaining chemical weapons.
Bush then claimed that Saddam wouldn't let the UN inspectors in and so he ordered the invasion of Iraq to find the WMD that the UN inspectors somehow missed. By the time Bush invaded Iraq anybody that was paying attention knew Saddam did not have WMD based on what the UN inspectors were reporting. Even Bush had to know that Saddam didn't have any WMD and that is the sad part. Bush refused to look at the best evidence available -- the on the ground inspections conducted by the UN -- and instead claimed that the single sourced false documentation provided by "Curveball" was proof enough.
One thing I have never understood is why the CIA did not match up the findings of the UN inspectors with what they had on file and reconcile the differences. At that point they had documentation that the yellowcake claim was false as was the mobile chemical labs and the single wooden airplane that was a supposed delivery vehicle. They also knew that Hans Blix complained bitterly about being sent on "wild goose chases" with the US leads sent to the inspectors. The UN inspections were highly effective but did not produce the desired results so they were criminally ignored. Frankly, there was not interest in what the UN inspectors found, leaving one to wonder why Bush even bothered to get the UN resolution on inspections. As it is the war Bush fought was not the war Congress authorized and that was a war crime.