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Trump Goes Code Pink on George W. Bush
Politico ^ | February 14, 2016 | By Michael Grunwald

Posted on 02/14/2016 6:25:46 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer

It was weird that an angry Code Pink-style protester interrupted last night's Republican presidential debate with a barrage of familiar Democratic talking points about George W. Bush - that he lied the country into a disastrous war in Iraq, failed to prevent the September 11 attacks, and even whiffed on an opportunity to kill Osama bin Laden. It was especially weird that the protestor was one Donald J. Trump, who happens to be the front-runner for the Republican nomination.

Trump didn't just call the Iraq war a mistake. He called it "a big fat mistake." And he didn't call it an inadvertent mistake because of faulty intelligence. "They lied!" he thundered. "They said there were weapons of mass destruction .. and they knew there were none. Trump even groused that the war cost $5 trillion that could have helped rebuild America's crumbling infrastructure, a common Democratic attack line that sounded like a canine talking point at a feline convention, especially in military-heavy South Carolina.

(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 2016debates; 5trillionlie; bigfattrump; bush; bush43; codepink; helies; infrastructure; iraq; richgreatwhitehope; trump; trump5point0; trumplies; trumpvalues; wmds
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To: Moonman62

Trump is the one who is rotten to the core.


121 posted on 02/14/2016 9:41:39 AM PST by beandog (TrumperTantrum)
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To: moehoward

Jeb is a Bush. The third one. The other two were libs. No thanks. Agree?


122 posted on 02/14/2016 9:43:00 AM PST by freedomjusticeruleoflaw (Western Civilization- whisper the words, and it will disappear. So let us talk now about rebirth.)
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To: DJ MacWoW; Mr Rogers

The worst part is I spent many a Friday evening in the cold, rain and heat across the street from Walter Reed fighting the Code Pinkos saying the same thing. A lot of the same people that I was with are now the same people supporting Trump and saying the same things the Pinkos said.

I feel really betrayed by this. It was one thing when Trump was just behaving like his usual immature, bullying self. But to lie about Bush, and by extension, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the war disgusts me to know end.

Some kind of evil force has taken over around here and I want know part of it.


123 posted on 02/14/2016 9:51:06 AM PST by beandog (TrumperTantrum)
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To: spacejunkie2001

Because I disagree with you? Interesting criteria.


124 posted on 02/14/2016 9:51:18 AM PST by LS ("Castles Made of Sand, Fall in the Sea . . . Eventually" (Hendrix))
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To: freedomjusticeruleoflaw

“The other two were libs.”

And Trump is not? YGBSM! You didn’t see GWB praising Planned Parenthood. And GWB was vastly superior to either Algore or Kerry on foreign policy - AND vastly better than Trump on foreign policy.

Trump thought we shouldn’t fight extremists overseas. Apparently he thinks building a wall is all it would take to keep us safe.

I didn’t enjoy voting for GWB the second time, but he was way ahead of Trump on foreign policy.


125 posted on 02/14/2016 9:51:47 AM PST by Mr Rogers (We're a nation of infants, ruled by their emotion)
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To: freedomjusticeruleoflaw

I don’t thing dad is. W’s brand of “compassionate conservatism” is close enough to lib as to be considered the same. Jeb is a dolt, he made it clear last night he’s running on W’s legacy. That alone should send his poll numbers straight to the crapper.


126 posted on 02/14/2016 10:01:21 AM PST by moehoward
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To: Mr Rogers

And I further propose that the Current civilian Homeland Security function should be implemented by The Army G-5 component since the Army’s mission is to protect the nation from all
enemies foreign an domestic.
This would rid us of the current administration as well as
continuing to protect us from foreign enemies.
And to tshaun I offer my salute rendered by Randy Quaid from my favorite Movie “Independence Day”
‘ “UP YOUR’S”


127 posted on 02/14/2016 10:25:01 AM PST by late bloomer ( Neglegere homo pone aulaeum. semi-retired warlord)
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To: Mr Rogers

Your boy GW had the House, AND the Senate, and did nothing but GROW government, INCLUDING subsidies to PP and multitudes of alphabet agencies that aid and abet the indoctrination of children. No Child Left Behind was Obama’s pass for Common Core, which the Bush’s SUPPORT.


128 posted on 02/14/2016 10:32:16 AM PST by freedomjusticeruleoflaw (Western Civilization- whisper the words, and it will disappear. So let us talk now about rebirth.)
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To: late bloomer

It’s amazing to me how slow the Freep matrix is to grasp Trump’s strategy. Last night he wasn’t running to win in SC, he’s already won. Last night he was using the platform to appeal to Dems searching for a safe perch in the Republican Party. For Donald the general election has already begun.


129 posted on 02/14/2016 10:36:32 AM PST by freedomjusticeruleoflaw (Western Civilization- whisper the words, and it will disappear. So let us talk now about rebirth.)
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To: freedomjusticeruleoflaw

Very insightful sir, he is a clever puke.
I can’t believe I was ever in his camp..


130 posted on 02/14/2016 10:55:31 AM PST by late bloomer ( Neglegere homo pone aulaeum. semi-retired warlord)
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To: late bloomer

Me neither.


131 posted on 02/14/2016 10:58:14 AM PST by freedomjusticeruleoflaw (Western Civilization- whisper the words, and it will disappear. So let us talk now about rebirth.)
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To: beandog

So you’re happy when our children are used as fodder? You do realize that the Bush’s are close friends from WAY BACK with the house of Saud? Any chance that you would like to see us fight our ACTUAL enemies, instead of the enemies of the Bush/Saudi dynasty?


132 posted on 02/14/2016 11:02:25 AM PST by freedomjusticeruleoflaw (Western Civilization- whisper the words, and it will disappear. So let us talk now about rebirth.)
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To: freedomjusticeruleoflaw; beandog

Interesting that you just keep throwing brown smelly stuff at the wall to see what sticks but had NO response to actual information in Post 113. Noob.


133 posted on 02/14/2016 11:10:04 AM PST by DJ MacWoW (The Fed Gov is not one ring to rule them all)
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To: freedomjusticeruleoflaw

I don’t believe for one second that my son was used as “fodder”. I believe Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld did exactly what they thought was the right thing to do. Doesn’t really matter to me what you think, you’re meaningless in the whole scope of things.

Trump was/is big buds with the Clintons. They went to his last wedding. I consider the Clintons my enemy who could more quickly destroy America than the Saudis.


134 posted on 02/14/2016 11:11:07 AM PST by beandog (TrumperTantrum)
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To: freedomjusticeruleoflaw; beandog
Btw,

On-the-Run Terrorist Group ISIS Seizes Non-Existent Stockpile of WMDs in the "Over" Iraq War

Saddam era WMDs captured in Iraq by ISIS

Do Reports of WMD Found in Iraq Vindicate George W. Bush? WMD were found in Iraq but does it matter?

135 posted on 02/14/2016 11:12:40 AM PST by DJ MacWoW (The Fed Gov is not one ring to rule them all)
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To: beandog

Have you noticed that many of the rabid Trumpers are newbies? I have. And I’ve been avoiding FR. I saw a reference to “Craig list Trumpers”. Interesting, ain’t it.


136 posted on 02/14/2016 11:14:57 AM PST by DJ MacWoW (The Fed Gov is not one ring to rule them all)
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To: DJ MacWoW

If Bush II was a serious man before 9/11 (He WAS after) then he would have recognized the danger in delinking agencies involved in security. Sorry, but this is NOT complicated. When the nation’s worst terrorism disaster happens on YOUR watch you own it. If that burden seems unfair, DON’T RUN FOR THE OFFICE.


137 posted on 02/14/2016 11:15:56 AM PST by freedomjusticeruleoflaw (Western Civilization- whisper the words, and it will disappear. So let us talk now about rebirth.)
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To: DJ MacWoW

They have no answer to it. Their whole intent is to degrade Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and all the good they did, in order to pump up their hero Trump, who has done absolutely nothing in his entire life but make money for himself.


138 posted on 02/14/2016 11:16:37 AM PST by beandog (TrumperTantrum)
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To: Enlightened1

I want the American people to understand first the past how did this crisis come about?

And I want them to understand what we must do to protect the national interest, and indeed the interest of all freedom-loving people in the world.

Remember, as a condition of the cease-fire after the Gulf War, the United Nations demanded not the United States the United Nations demanded, and Saddam Hussein agreed to declare within 15 days this is way back in 1991 within 15 days his nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and the missiles to deliver them, to make a total declaration. That’s what he promised to do.

The United Nations set up a special commission of highly trained international experts called UNSCOM, to make sure that Iraq made good on that commitment. We had every good reason to insist that Iraq disarm. Saddam had built up a terrible arsenal, and he had used it not once, but many times, in a decade-long war with Iran, he used chemical weapons, against combatants, against civilians, against a foreign adversary, and even against his own people.

And during the Gulf War, Saddam launched Scuds against Saudi Arabia, Israel and Bahrain.

Now, instead of playing by the very rules he agreed to at the end of the Gulf War, Saddam has spent the better part of the past decade trying to cheat on this solemn commitment. Consider just some of the facts:

Iraq repeatedly made false declarations about the weapons that it had left in its possession after the Gulf War. When UNSCOM would then uncover evidence that gave lie to those declarations, Iraq would simply amend the reports.

For example, Iraq revised its nuclear declarations four times within just 14 months and it has submitted six different biological warfare declarations, each of which has been rejected by UNSCOM.

In 1995, Hussein Kamal, Saddam’s son-in-law, and the chief organizer of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction program, defected to Jordan. He revealed that Iraq was continuing to conceal weapons and missiles and the capacity to build many more.

Then and only then did Iraq admit to developing numbers of weapons in significant quantities and weapon stocks. Previously, it had vehemently denied the very thing it just simply admitted once Saddam Hussein’s son-in-law defected to Jordan and told the truth. Now listen to this, what did it admit?

It admitted, among other things, an offensive biological warfare capability notably 5,000 gallons of botulinum, which causes botulism; 2,000 gallons of anthrax; 25 biological-filled Scud warheads; and 157 aerial bombs.

And I might say UNSCOM inspectors believe that Iraq has actually greatly understated its production.

As if we needed further confirmation, you all know what happened to his son-in-law when he made the untimely decision to go back to Iraq.

Next, throughout this entire process, Iraqi agents have undermined and undercut UNSCOM. They’ve harassed the inspectors, lied to them, disabled monitoring cameras, literally spirited evidence out of the back doors of suspect facilities as inspectors walked through the front door. And our people were there observing it and had the pictures to prove it.

Despite Iraq’s deceptions, UNSCOM has nevertheless done a remarkable job. Its inspectors the eyes and ears of the civilized world have uncovered and destroyed more weapons of mass destruction capacity than was destroyed during the Gulf War.

This includes nearly 40,000 chemical weapons, more than 100,000 gallons of chemical weapons agents, 48 operational missiles, 30 warheads specifically fitted for chemical and biological weapons, and a massive biological weapons facility at Al Hakam equipped to produce anthrax and other deadly agents.

Over the past few months, as they have come closer and closer to rooting out Iraq’s remaining nuclear capacity, Saddam has undertaken yet another gambit to thwart their ambitions.

By imposing debilitating conditions on the inspectors and declaring key sites which have still not been inspected off limits, including, I might add, one palace in Baghdad more than 2,600 acres large by comparison, when you hear all this business about presidential sites reflect our sovereignty, why do you want to come into a residence, the White House complex is 18 acres. So you’ll have some feel for this.

One of these presidential sites is about the size of Washington, D.C. That’s about how many acres did you tell me it was? 40,000 acres. We’re not talking about a few rooms here with delicate personal matters involved.

It is obvious that there is an attempt here, based on the whole history of this operation since 1991, to protect whatever remains of his capacity to produce weapons of mass destruction, the missiles to deliver them, and the feed stocks necessary to produce them.

The UNSCOM inspectors believe that Iraq still has stockpiles of chemical and biological munitions, a small force of Scud-type missiles, and the capacity to restart quickly its production program and build many, many more weapons.

Now, against that background, let us remember the past here. It is against that background that we have repeatedly and unambiguously made clear our preference for a diplomatic solution.

The inspection system works. The inspection system has worked in the face of lies, stonewalling, obstacle after obstacle after obstacle. The people who have done that work deserve the thanks of civilized people throughout the world.

It has worked. That is all we want. And if we can find a diplomatic way to do what has to be done, to do what he promised to do at the end of the Gulf War, to do what should have been done within 15 days within 15 days of the agreement at the end of the Gulf War, if we can find a diplomatic way to do that, that is by far our preference.

But to be a genuine solution, and not simply one that glosses over the remaining problem, a diplomatic solution must include or meet a clear, immutable, reasonable, simple standard.

Iraq must agree and soon, to free, full, unfettered access to these sites anywhere in the country. There can be no dilution or diminishment of the integrity of the inspection system that UNSCOM has put in place.

Now those terms are nothing more or less than the essence of what he agreed to at the end of the Gulf War. The Security Council, many times since, has reiterated this standard. If he accepts them, force will not be necessary. If he refuses or continues to evade his obligations through more tactics of delay and deception, he and he alone will be to blame for the consequences.

I ask all of you to remember the record here what he promised to do within 15 days of the end of the Gulf War, what he repeatedly refused to do, what we found out in 1995, what the inspectors have done against all odds. We have no business agreeing to any resolution of this that does not include free, unfettered access to the remaining sites by people who have integrity and proven confidence in the inspection business. That should be our standard. That’s what UNSCOM has done, and that’s why I have been fighting for it so hard. And that’s why the United States should insist upon it.

Now, let’s imagine the future. What if he fails to comply, and we fail to act, or we take some ambiguous third route which gives him yet more opportunities to develop this program of weapons of mass destruction and continue to press for the release of the sanctions and continue to ignore the solemn commitments that he made?

Well, he will conclude that the international community has lost its will. He will then conclude that he can go right on and do more to rebuild an arsenal of devastating destruction.

And some day, some way, I guarantee you, he’ll use the arsenal. And I think every one of you who’s really worked on this for any length of time believes that, too.

Now we have spent several weeks building up our forces in the Gulf, and building a coalition of like-minded nations. Our force posture would not be possible without the support of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the GCC states and Turkey. Other friends and allies have agreed to provide forces, bases or logistical support, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and Portugal, Denmark and the Netherlands, Hungary and Poland and the Czech Republic, Argentina, Iceland, Australia and New Zealand and our friends and neighbors in Canada.

That list is growing, not because anyone wants military action, but because there are people in this world who believe the United Nations resolutions should mean something, because they understand what UNSCOM has achieved, because they remember the past, and because they can imagine what the future will be depending on what we do now.

If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction program. We want to seriously reduce his capacity to threaten his neighbors.

I am quite confident, from the briefing I have just received from our military leaders, that we can achieve the objective and secure our vital strategic interests.

Let me be clear: A military operation cannot destroy all the weapons of mass destruction capacity. But it can and will leave him significantly worse off than he is now in terms of the ability to threaten the world with these weapons or to attack his neighbors.

And he will know that the international community continues to have a will to act if and when he threatens again. Following any strike, we will carefully monitor Iraq’s activities with all the means at our disposal. If he seeks to rebuild his weapons of mass destruction, we will be prepared to strike him again.

The economic sanctions will remain in place until Saddam complies fully with all U.N. resolutions.

Consider this already these sanctions have denied him $110 billion. Imagine how much stronger his armed forces would be today, how many more weapons of mass destruction operations he would have hidden around the country if he had been able to spend even a small fraction of that amount for a military rebuilding.

We will continue to enforce a no-fly zone from the southern suburbs of Baghdad to the Kuwait border and in northern Iraq, making it more difficult for Iraq to walk over Kuwait again or threaten the Kurds in the north.

Now, let me say to all of you here as all of you know the weightiest decision any president ever has to make is to send our troops into harm’s way. And force can never be the first answer. But sometimes, it’s the only answer.

You are the best prepared, best equipped, best trained fighting force in the world. And should it prove necessary for me to exercise the option of force, your commanders will do everything they can to protect the safety of all the men and women under their command.

No military action, however, is risk-free. I know that the people we may call upon in uniform are ready. The American people have to be ready as well.

Dealing with Saddam Hussein requires constant vigilance. We have seen that constant vigilance pays off. But it requires constant vigilance. Since the Gulf War, we have pushed back every time Saddam has posed a threat.

When Baghdad plotted to assassinate former President Bush, we struck hard at Iraq’s intelligence headquarters.

When Saddam threatened another invasion by amassing his troops in Kuwait along the Kuwaiti border in 1994, we immediately deployed our troops, our ships, our planes, and Saddam backed down.

When Saddam forcefully occupied Irbil in northern Iraq, we broadened our control over Iraq’s skies by extending the no-fly zone.

But there is no better example, again I say, than the U.N. weapons inspection system itself. Yes, he has tried to thwart it in every conceivable way, but the discipline, determination, year-in-year-out effort of these weapons inspectors is doing the job. And we seek to finish the job. Let there be no doubt, we are prepared to act.

But Saddam Hussein could end this crisis tomorrow simply by letting the weapons inspectors complete their mission. He made a solemn commitment to the international community to do that and to give up his weapons of mass destruction a long time ago now. One way or the other, we are determined to see that he makes good on his own promise.

Saddam Hussein’s Iraq reminds us of what we learned in the 20th century and warns us of what we must know about the 21st. In this century, we learned through harsh experience that the only answer to aggression and illegal behavior is firmness, determination, and when necessary action.

In the next century, the community of nations may see more and more the very kind of threat Iraq poses now a rogue state with weapons of mass destruction ready to use them or provide them to terrorists, drug traffickers or organized criminals who travel the world among us unnoticed.

If we fail to respond today, Saddam and all those who would follow in his footsteps will be emboldened tomorrow by the knowledge that they can act with impunity, even in the face of a clear message from the United Nations Security Council and clear evidence of a weapons of mass destruction program.

But if we act as one, we can safeguard our interests and send a clear message to every would-be tyrant and terrorist that the international community does have the wisdom and the will and the way to protect peace and security in a new era. That is the future I ask you all to imagine. That is the future I ask our allies to imagine.

If we look at the past and imagine that future, we will act as one together. And we still have, God willing, a chance to find a diplomatic resolution to this, and if not, God willing, the chance to do the right thing for our children and grandchildren.

Thank you very much.

Bill Clinton
Tuesday February 17, 1998


139 posted on 02/14/2016 11:18:36 AM PST by woofie
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To: freedomjusticeruleoflaw

You can double down on stupid. He’d been in office NINE months and it was a Clinton created mess but you keep defending those Democrats and Trump. Some will fall for it but not all of us.


140 posted on 02/14/2016 11:22:03 AM PST by DJ MacWoW (The Fed Gov is not one ring to rule them all)
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