ben.huur
18.06.05, 01:11
Senator Kennedy on the Downing Street Minutes
“The contents of the Downing Street Minutes confirm that the Bush
Administration was determined to go to war in Iraq, regardless of whether
there was any credible justification for doing so. The Administration
distorted and misrepresented the intelligence in its attempt to link Saddam
Hussein with the terrorists of 9/11 and Osama bin Laden, and with weapons of
mass destruction that Iraq did not have.
In addition, the Downing Street Minutes also confirm what has long been
obvious – that the timing of the war was linked to the 2002 Congressional
elections, and that the Administration’s planning for post-war Iraq was
incompetent in all its aspects. The current continuing crisis is a direct
result of that incompetence.
Many of you have worked hard for the American people, the media and those in
government to speak out about the Downing Street Minutes and the Iraq war.
You can join me in speaking out as well.
The policy of “shoot first, ask questions later” took us into an unjustified
war, and without a clear concept of what “winning the war” actually means.
President Bush constantly talks about the “progress” that is being made in
Iraq against the insurgency, but he’s looking for good news with a
microscope. All anyone can see is “Mission Mis-accomplished” and the
continuing losses of American lives, the deaths of thousands of innocent
Iraqis, the torture scandal, and the ominous decline in our nation’s moral
authority in the world community.
We know the Administration had been planning to invade Iraq for many months
before the invasion actually began. We know the Administration twisted the
intelligence to make the facts fit their plan. We know that the
Administration never really intended to give the U.N. weapons inspectors a
reasonable chance to succeed. The Downing Street Minutes demonstrate that the
Administration knew their case for war was paper thin, and that in order to
go into war with the support of our allies, we had to demonstrate some
willingness to go along with the UN inspection process. But the
Administration continued to misuse its intelligence, distort the facts and
pay only lip-service to the UN’s role in disarming Iraq.
We never should have gone to war for ideological reasons driven by politics
and based on manipulated intelligence. The Downing Street Minutes provide
even more proof that this is exactly what happened on Iraq. The
Administration’s dishonesty, lack of candor, and lack of planning have
brought us to where we are today, with American soldiers dying, Iraqi
civilians living in constant fear, and with no clearer picture of our
strategy for victory in Iraq than when we started. ”
www.tedkennedy.com/downingstreet
