by Working Assets Action Alert – Contact Bush and demand a response
http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?itemid=16374
George W. Bush Owes the American People an Apology
The United States invaded Iraq on the basis of claims of weapons of mass destruction and an imminent danger to our own country. While few disputed that Saddam Hussein was a brutal and sadistic dictator, it now appears that he did not possess weapons of mass destruction and was not a threat to the United States. Of course, many argued this a year ago and were attacked as treasonous by the Bush administration.
Mr. Bush and his various representatives – Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice – all asserted in various forums that there was no doubt that Saddam not only possessed weapons of mass destruction, but that we knew where they were. And now that Mr. Bush’s very own weapons searcher – David Kay – has resigned after concluding that there were no such weapons, and that our intelligence was false – the best that Mr. Bush can do is try to create a commission to find out what went wrong. But even now, he wants a report focusing on the CIA and not the White House, produced AFTER the election, and without the power to compel testimony under oath by anybody at the White House.
For someone who campaigned promising to restore honor and integrity to the White House, this is a missed opportunity.
To whom should the President apologize? Here is a short list:
• To the American people who trusted him as Commander in Chief;
• To the members of Congress who voted to give Mr. Bush carte blanche to go to war only after reviewing classified information on WMD;
• To the members of the UN weapons inspection teams for ignoring their accurate findings; and
•. To the families of the soldiers who have died in Iraq.
Of course, the list could be longer, but this is a good place to start.
Call to action
Urge President Bush to apologize for overstating the case that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, to form an independent commission, to strengthen its mandate and powers, and to offer to be the first witness about what he knew and when he knew it.
Dear George W. Bush
I think you owe me (and many other people) an apology. You ran for the presidency promising to restore honor and integrity to the office, but when the evidence on weapons of mass destruction contradicts everything you have been saying, the best you can do is order up a special commission to examine the CIA, ignore the White House, and above all, report back after the election. You can do better than that.
I urge you to start with a simple apology. To make it really easy, I have written out the first couple of sentences:
“I want to apologize for overstating the case that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. In the year leading up to our invasion, I kept saying that we were sure Saddam had the weapons and that we knew where they were. We did not, and my own weapons inspector has now told me that it looks like we won’t find any.
“I still think it was a good idea to invade, although I know many of you will disagree. But I am from Texas, and when we make a mistake, we don’t hide or try to pretend that we didn’t. And we apologize to those that were misled. So, tonight I want to apologize to the American people, because they trusted me.
“I want to apologize to those members of Congress who voted to give me the power to go to war after seeing classified evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
“I want to apologize to the teams of UN weapons inspectors because they got it right the first time.
“And finally, I want to apologize to the families of American soldiers who have died in Iraq.”
I read in the newspapers that you intend, by executive order, to establish a presidential commission to examine this massive failure. But so far, I have not read that it will be truly independent, have the obligation to investigate the White House as well as the CIA and Pentagon, subpoena witnesses to testify under oath, and to report back in a timely way. I urge you not to pull the old trick of delaying the report until after the election. The American people deserve better than that.
And finally, Mr. President, I urge you to testify first – in public and under oath. That will go a long way to restoring the honor and integrity you promised to bring to the office.
Please tell me what you intend to do about this matter.
Sincerely,
You can send this e-mail as is or personalize it using your own words.
In His Own Words – Bush On Saddam’s WMD
The Virginian-Pilot (February 1, 2004)
2-1-4
“States like these (Iraq, Iran, North Korea) … constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. The United States of America will not permit the world’s most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world’s most destructive weapons.”
– George W. Bush, State of the Union Address, Jan. 29, 2002
“The Iraqi regime possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons…. If we know Saddam Hussein has dangerous weapons today — and we do — does it make any sense for the world to wait to confront him as he grows even stronger and develops even more dangerous weapons?”
– George W. Bush, Cincinnati, Oct. 7, 2002
“Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of Sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent.”
– George W. Bush, State of the Union Address, Jan. 28, 2003
“The security of the world requires disarming Saddam Hussein now.”
– George W. Bush, March 17, 2003
“We’ve begun the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons and already know of hundreds of sites that will be investigated. No terrorist network will gain weapons of mass destruction from the Iraqi regime because the regime is no more.”
– George W. Bush, May 1, 2003
“We’ll find them. It’ll be a matter of time to do so.”
– George W. Bush, May 3, 2003
“We based our decisions on good, sound intelligence, and the – our people are going to find out the truth. And the truth will say that this intelligence was good intelligence. There’s no doubt in my mind.”
– George W. Bush, July 17, 2003
“Our coalition has made sure that Iraq’s former dictator will never again use weapons of mass destruction. We are interviewing Iraqi citizens and analyzing records of the old regime to reveal the full extent of its weapons programs and its long campaign of deception.”
– George W. Bush Sept. 23, 2003
“He (Saddam) had a weapons program.”
– George W. Bush, Oct. 29, 2003
“Already the Kay report identified dozens of weapons of mass destruction-related program activities and significant amounts of equipment that Iraq concealed from the United Nations.”
– George W. Bush, State of the Union Address, Jan. 20, 2004
“We know from years of intelligence – not only our own intelligence services, but other intelligence-gathering organizations – that [Saddam] had weapons.”
– George W. Bush, Jan. 27, 2004
“We were almost all wrong.”
– David Kay, top Iraq weapons inspector for the Bush administration, testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Jan. 28, 2004
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