Liars’ Club Confab: Bush and Blair at White House - International Peace/War

Liars’ Club Confab: Bush and Blair at White House
by William Hughes Thursday, May 25 2006, 7:06am
international / peace/war / other press

"All the war-propaganda...screaming, lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting." - George Orwell

On May 25, 2006, President George W. Bush and UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, met in the afternoon at the White House. Their topic was the Iraqi War. The specific purpose of the get together between the war's two key co-conspirators, "Chicken Hawk" Bush and his "British Poodle" Blair, dealt with this issue: How to continue to sell this unnecessary bloodbath to the American and British public. After their bull session or sessions, "both vowed to keep troops there until the new Iraq government takes control." (1) This pipe dream totally ignores the fact that the Civil War in Iraq is getting worse and that the recently installed occupation government is shakier than Ken Lay's chances of escaping prison time in the Enron case. Translation: It's just more perpetual war propaganda from the Bush-Blair Machine.

Polls show that there are feelings of growing outrage held by the vast majority of people in both the U.S. and the UK over the Iraqi War. Many deem it the height of folly. It's no accident that this confab of the two leading members of the Anglo-American Liars' Club, took place only days after anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, standing outside the gate, at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., had labeled Bush's White House, "a crime scene!" The prestigious "Economist" magazine of London has tagged the seriously demented duo of Bush and Blair as an "Axis of Feeble."

Meanwhile, Col. Ann Wright, an arch opponent of the Iraqi War was detained for two hours, searched and "shackled to a chair," on May 22, 2006, at Fort McNair, across the Potomac River, in Virginia. She was handing out some postcards at the military base to promote a documentary film against the war, "Sir! No Sir!" Although no charges have been filed against her, an Army sergeant referred to the postcards "as seditious material." (2) "Seditious!" Heck, that word hasn't been heard in Washington, D.C., since the presidential administration of John Adams (1797-1801)! Wright a 29 year veteran of the Army and Reserves resigned her State Department post in 2003, rather than endorse the illegal and preemptive invasion of Iraq, a devilish scheme, concocted primarily by Paul Wolfowitz, a Neocon, the then Deputy Secretary of Defense, and now head of the World Bank. (3)

The feisty Wright was also expected to appear at a rally protesting Blair's visit, set for 7:30 PM, today, in front of the White House. This was also the time designated for the Bush-Blair joint news conference. (4)

Closer to home, while the two master deceivers, Bush and Blair, were in a cover-your-a.. mode, the Baltimore Sun announced the deaths of ten more brave U.S. troops in Iraq. This brings the total to 2,460 U.S. troops killed since the war began in March, 2003. The Brits have suffered 111 fatalities during this same period. While the Bush/Blair meeting made page 2A of the newspaper, the latest list of the American dead was relegated to page 12A. The bottomless black hole, aka the cost of the war, is now at a staggering $283.4 billion and rising. And, thanks to willing accomplices in the U.S. Congress; accessories before and after the fact of the Bush-Cheney Gang's warmongering, like: U.S. Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Barbara Ann Mikulski (D-MD), Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT); and Representatives, such as: Tom Lantos (D-CA), Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Ben Cardin (D-MD), the funding for the blood stained conflict continues unabated.

Two of the ten most recent U.S. dead were only 21-years old, while the oldest was 45 years of age. Because of the serial lies of Bush and Blair, these men died in Iraq, either in fighting in and around Baghdad or in Anbar province. Two of the dead, Lance Cpl. Benito A. Ramirez and Lt. Col. Daniel E. Holland were from Texas; Ist Lt. Robert A. Seidell and Lance Cpl. Adam C. Conboy hailed from Pennsylvania; Chief Warrant Office John W. Engerman called New York state home; Pfc. Nicholas R. Cournoyer was a New Englander from New Hampshire; Navy Petty Officer 3d Class Lee Hamilton was a son of Louisiana; Staff Sgt. Santiago M. Halsel was from the Bluegrass state, Kentucky; and from the midlands; there was Master Sgt. Robert H. West of Ohio; and finally from the great plains of Nebraska, Sgt. Lonnie C. Allen, Jr., was also listed. (5)

Nevertheless, momentum is continuing to build, although in incremental stages, to bring Bush and Blair to the Bar of Justice. On September 24, 2005, the splendid Celt, the Hon. George Galloway, MP, spoke to a crowd of over 300,000 protesters on the National Mall, in D.C. He denounced Bush and Blair as "war criminals." He added that it was essential for the good people of the UK and the U.S. to make it clear to the world that these "war criminals were not acting in our name." (6) Both Bush and Blair's poll numbers are now at all time low ratings.

Finally, the awful canards that got the U.S. into the Iraqi War are revealed in the Downing St. Memos and related documents. (7) Saddam Hussein's Iraq didn't have any WMD, ties to Al-Qaeda or any terrorist groups for that matter, or any connections whatsoever to 9/11. The best summary of those damnable lies, in my opinion, was given by David Swanson, activist and journalist, and cofounder of the Downing St. Coalition, at an Impeachment Forum, held in Washington, D.C., in January, 2006. He said, in part, that "George Bush intentionally lied to Congress in the letter and report that he sent them on March 18, 2003...That Bush focused on 'regime change' in Iraq after 9/11...It is crystal clear that Bush and [Dick] Cheney had decided to go to war [with Iraq] long before admitting it to Congress or the American people...Bush and Cheney had decided to lie about the WMD...The White House-Iraqi Group, (which included the indicted Irv "Scooter" Libby, a Neocon, and crony of Wolfowitz), was then formed to market the war to us...Bush and Blair were aware that Iraq was not a threat, even to its neighbors...Taking the country to war based on intentional lies is the highest crime possible. If this is not an instance of talking about Impeachment, then there never can be one!" (8)

Notes:

1. AP Online, May 25, 2006
2. http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/11057
3. http://www.tompaine.com/articles/why_wolfowitz.php
4. http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/11089
5. Baltimore Sun, "Killed in Iraq," May 25, 2006, at p. 12A.
6. http://homepage.mac.com/bhughes2/iMovieTheater157.html
7. http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/
8. Video of David Swanson, After Downing St. Coalition, on the "Lies of the Bush-Cheney Gang," can be found here: http://homepage.mac.com/bhughes2/iMovieTheater178.html

© William Hughes 2006.

William Hughes is the author of "Saying ''No' to the War Party" (IUniverse, Inc.). He can be reached at liamhughes@comcast.net.

homepage: http://home.comcast.net/~liamhughes/

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