Bill Buckley, you and I know the war was a mistake

The Hill ^ | June 28, 04 | Josh Marshall

[Felis_irritable]

OK, here's where the commitment meets the assertion: the writer mentions WMDs and the Iraq-al Qaeda link. The first phrase in his "demolition" of both is "To the best of our knowledge..."

Where I come from, we call those "weasel words," and they are used by those who want to look back and say "But I didn't ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY rule out (fill in the blank)."

But then I'm from the provinces, and not too sophisticated.

[don-o]

1) there never was any WMD threat that was serious enough to warrant a U.S. invasion

Has it all gone into the burn bag?

God Almighty. The run up to the war was off the concensus - U. fu**n Nations decrees and all that...

All about enforcement of said decrees.

Give me a break.

Where is Maggie when we need her?

[ChinaThreat]

Especially when they get senile.

[foreverfree]

bump

[Stultis]

Every couple of months we hear of a new finding that someone who may have had a tie to Saddam may have met with someone connected to al Qaeda.

Uh, yeah. "Someone who may have had a tie to Saddam" includes Iraqi intelligence officials at the highest level, and "someone connect to al Qaeda" includes Osama bin Laden himself. Furthermore, "may have met" may include at a key planning meeting for the 9-11 attacks (Kuala Lampur 2000).

The naysayers are spinning madly. Historians will read this shiite with incredulity.

[churchillbuff]

I haven't seen you call for an invasion of Cuba, but that doesn't make you pro-Castro. Likewise, just because I didn't and don't think we needed to invade the impotent dirt-poor country of Iraq doesn't make me pro-Saddam. I'm with Reagan - he beat the communists without invading the Soviet Union or Eastern Europe - and a lot of those rulers were as evil as Saddam.

[lepton]

Advocates of the war still claim that Saddam had “WMD programs.” But they can do so only by using a comically elastic definition of “program” that never would have passed the laugh test if attempted prior to the war.

We haven't found WMDs? We have found some, but more to the point: We haven't found the stockpiles that Iraq SHOWED the U.N. Where'd they go, and can you prove it?

[Captiva]

Anyone who likes baseball that much is weird.

Go NFL!

[dalebert]

Iraq was feeding terrorism. We are at war with terrorism. What are we supposed to do? Wait for another 911 or worse?

[Texasforever]

NEVER trust a conservative that wears a bow tie.

[Torie]

Excellent catch. If you are not a lawyer, you should be. Cheers.

I would still have supported the war myself, given what is known now. I am willing to take some risks for what I think is right in the core of my being. (It is a pity that Buckley has truncated his vision and scope of concern to the more mundane.) But of course my view would not have been a tenable position for the US government to take. I have to acknowledge that.

[woodyinscc]

While almost every journalist, talking head, and a certain Presidential wannabe, are thinking inside the box, President Bush is once again two steps ahead of them. Maybe they better look at Treasury Sec Snow, and how his policy's are affecting the House of Saud.

[omniscient]

Decades from now and maybe not even in his lifetime, George W. Bush will be regarded and revered as the father of modern Middle East democracy. Buckley will be remembered, along with Will, Clancy, and countless others as well-intentioned conservatives who got cold feet after it became clear that there might be a little sacrifice and effort involved.

[A Citizen Reporter]

"Actually, Hollywood supported this war - until recently, anyway. At Academy Awards last year, they booed Michael Moore when he spoke against the war"

Other than this so-called example, can you provide any other shred of evidence for your assertion that "Hollywood supported this war"?

[Ramius]

No, he supported it until two things became clear to him: 1) there never was any WMD threat that was serious enough to warrant a U.S. invasion; and 2) the administration's efforts in waging the war revealed an utter lack of competence in preparing for the occupation of Iraq.

In fact, now that I think about Point #2 . . . I believe he made this comment somewhere around the first anniversary of President Bush's idiotic performance on the deck of the aircraft carrier.

Now this is just plain silly. Are you *really* ready to pronounce that Iraq would never have been a threat to the U.S. vis-a-vis WMD??? If you are really making that statement then I guess we have little to discuss because it would appear that we live on different planets.

Now... with regard to the actual planning for the war... if taking down a whole country in three weeks with the fewest casualties on *both* sides that has ever occurred in the history of warfare isn't good enough for you... then maybe you need to adjust your powerpoint slides a little. Perhaps then, you could point me to a military campaign in the history of the world that has accomplished more in less time with fewer casualties?

[Captiva]

What should be American policy toward despots who give santuary to those who murder American citizens?

Death? or additional parking surfaces?

[CyberCowboy777]

Thankfully Bill's time has passed and a new generation is in charge.


I'll thank him for the '80s, curse him for the '60s and '70s and forget all about him in a week.

[Deb]

For some unknown reason, the great anti-Communists like Buckley, Bob Novak, Pat Buchanan and John Mclaughlin are against the war. I don't know if they don't perceive radical Islam as the threat Marxism was/is or if there is a teeny, tiny bit of anti-Israeli sentiment going on. It's very odd.

Buckley is a total shock, but then, his pro-drug legalization stance is a head-rubber too.

[Merdoug]

You're talking to the wall. The Bsuhbots see nothing but perfection.
Bush let's in illegals,...
Bushbots: We have always been a Nation of immigrants. They do the jobs Americans won't do,...
Bush takes away our freedoms with the "patriot" act,...
Bushbots: It's for our own good! Remember 9/11,..Remember 9/11,...Remember 9/11,...Remember 9/11,...
Bush allows corporations to move overseas and still sell to America with no penalities,...
Bushbots: Strong super-companies are GOOD for America. There's PLENTY of jobs out there,...TONS of jobs,..REALLY,...
Bush takes us into a war with a country which was NO THREAT to us,...
Bushbots: It was for the (Iraqi)CHILDREN,...WMD? What WMD? We never said no such thing,..
Bushbots are just like the democrats with clinton: they will destroy their conservative values to support him; actually losing what it meant to be a conservative to get him elected.
Thankfully, more and more people are finally starting to see the truth about this "compassionate" conservative.

[lepton]

Hey you skipped the primary reason for resuming invading Iraq: Hussein refused - in a massive way - to adhere to the conditions of the cease-fire and demonstrated himself immune to diplomacy. After 1994, there is no excuse for not having removed Hussein from power.

Libyas capitulation alone justified the war.