This morning, the front page of USA TooLate featured a
story on the discovery of a giant prehistoric guinea
pig. Meanwhile, buried a few pages deeper into the
newspaper, there was a story on the political grenade
that Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Camelot) hurled yesterdayA
story on the political grenade that Sen. Edward
Kennedy (D-Camelot) hurled yesterday, included as a
brief news item in a summary of news items. Yes, Sen.
Kennedy is a controversial political figure. But that
should just make the story even bigger. Sen. Kennedy
often does the dangerous political wet work that
others are afraid of...He has nothing to lose...You do
not have to agree with Jim Garrison and me to
understand what I am talking about...The charges of
fraud and bribery (i.e. "high crimes and
misdemeanors," yes up to and including in this case
treason) are now out there in the body
politic...”There is something rotten in…Waco,” and
wall to wall coverage of the Hurricane and the attack
of the Giant Prehistoric Guinea Pig will not drown it
out...Fascintating, too, that Kennedy launched his
incendiary on the day that Jordan's young King Abullah
(King Hussein's son)was standing, with a very sad and
worried demeanor, behind a podium at quite a distance
from the _resident as the _resident lambasted the
failed leadership of Arafat. Well, you do not have to
disagree with the characterization of Arafat to know
that without the failed leadership of the _resident
and Sharon the butcher, we would not be on the brink
of doubled-edged holocaust in the Middle East. Yes,
there is moral equivalency for the _resident, Sharon
and Arafat...
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0918-10.htm
Published on Thursday, September 18, 2003 by the
Associated Press
Kennedy Says Case for War Built on 'Fraud'
by Steve LeBlanc
BOSTON - The case for going to war against Iraq was a
fraud "made up in Texas" to give Republicans a
political boost, Sen. Edward Kennedy said Thursday.
My belief is this money is being shuffled all around
to these political leaders in all parts of the world,
bribing them to send in troops.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Kennedy
also said the Bush administration has failed to
account for nearly half of the $4 billion the war is
costing each month. He said he believes much of the
unaccounted-for money is being used to bribe foreign
leaders to send in troops.
He called the Bush administration's current Iraq
policy "adrift."
The White House declined to comment Thursday.
The Massachusetts Democrat also expressed doubts about
how serious a threat Saddam Hussein posed to the
United States in its battle against terrorism. He said
administration officials relied on "distortion,
misrepresentation, a selection of intelligence" to
justify their case for war.
"There was no imminent threat. This was made up in
Texas, announced in January to the Republican
leadership that war was going to take place and was
going to be good politically. This whole thing was a
fraud," Kennedy said.
Kennedy said a recent report by the Congressional
Budget Office showed that only about $2.5 billion of
the $4 billion being spent monthly on the war can be
accounted for by the Bush administration. "My belief
is this money is being shuffled all around to these
political leaders in all parts of the world, bribing
them to send in troops," he said.
Of the $87 billion in new money requested by President
Bush for the war, Kennedy said the administration
should be required to report back to the Congress to
account for the spending.
"We want to support our troops because they didn't
make the decision to go there ... but I don't think it
should be open-ended. We ought to have a benchmark
where the administration has to come back and give us
a report," he added.
Kennedy said the focus on Iraq has drawn the nation's
attention away from more direct threats, including
al-Qaida, instability in Afghanistan or the nuclear
ambitions of North Korea.
"I think all of those pose a threat to the security of
the people of Massachusetts much more than the threat
from Iraq," Kennedy said. "Terror has been put on the
sidelines for the last 12 months."
Kennedy was one of 23 senators who voted last October
against authorizing Bush to use military force to
disarm Iraq.
Earlier this year, he supported a Democratic amendment
that would have delayed most of the president's
proposed tax cuts, and most spending increases, until
the administration provided cost estimates for the
Iraq war. The amendment failed.
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press
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Posted by richard at September 19, 2003 03:08 PM