Lies and Deceit
Historian and Army Major H.R. Mc Master's "Dereliction of Duty" is a classic work on the Vietnam War. He offers the following quote in a segment entitled "Quicksand of Lies".
"The Constitution assigns to Congress the right to declare war. How can Congress discharge this function if its members and the citizens who elected them are precluded from discussing the merits of the issues that might lead to war?...To say that the momentous issues a nation must face cannot be openly and critically discussed is really tantamount to saying that democratic debate and decisions do not apply to the question of life and death and that, as far as they are concerned, the people have given carte blanche to one man. Not only is this position at odds with the principles of democracy, but it also removes a very important corrective for governmental misjudgment." Han Morganthau, April 1965
Again, we find our country trapped again in a quicksand of lies. Hopefully, an examination of the role our president played in creating the predicament will serve the purpose of avoiding future "governmental misjudgements". Bush and his cabinet repeatedly claimed Saddam's weapons of mass destruction posed "a serious and mounting threat to our nation" with consequences that would be "grave and tragic" if we failed to act. We were repeatedly told that the Iraqi regime possessed "vast arsenals of deadly biological and chemical weapons". "We cannot wait for final proof, the smoking gun." "It could come in the form of a mushroom cloud."
As in Vietnam, the invasion of Iraq was not governmental misjudgment, but White House lies and deceit. Will we never learn to be highly skeptical of our military industrial complex?
"The Constitution assigns to Congress the right to declare war. How can Congress discharge this function if its members and the citizens who elected them are precluded from discussing the merits of the issues that might lead to war?...To say that the momentous issues a nation must face cannot be openly and critically discussed is really tantamount to saying that democratic debate and decisions do not apply to the question of life and death and that, as far as they are concerned, the people have given carte blanche to one man. Not only is this position at odds with the principles of democracy, but it also removes a very important corrective for governmental misjudgment." Han Morganthau, April 1965
Again, we find our country trapped again in a quicksand of lies. Hopefully, an examination of the role our president played in creating the predicament will serve the purpose of avoiding future "governmental misjudgements". Bush and his cabinet repeatedly claimed Saddam's weapons of mass destruction posed "a serious and mounting threat to our nation" with consequences that would be "grave and tragic" if we failed to act. We were repeatedly told that the Iraqi regime possessed "vast arsenals of deadly biological and chemical weapons". "We cannot wait for final proof, the smoking gun." "It could come in the form of a mushroom cloud."
As in Vietnam, the invasion of Iraq was not governmental misjudgment, but White House lies and deceit. Will we never learn to be highly skeptical of our military industrial complex?
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