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Originally Posted by livius drusus
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Originally Posted by Cool Hand
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I also understand that the Dumbya administration was planning the invasion of Iraq prior to 9/11.
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I haven't heard that. Do you have a reference or source for your understanding? |
This is not a source for the administration planning an invasion of Iraq prior to 9/11, but Mickey Herskowitz, a former GWB ghostwriter and biographer of Prescott Bush, claims that Bush himself spoke of invading Iraq in order to get the approval rating of an easy war to help implement his legislative agenda.
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"He was thinking about invading Iraq in 1999," said author and journalist Mickey Herskowitz. "It was on his mind. He said to me: 'One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief.' And he said, 'My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it.' He said, 'If I have a chance to invade….if I had that much capital, I’m not going to waste it. I'm going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I'm going to have a successful presidency."
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Beyond a reference to Paul O'Neill's book, there is no external confirmation that I can see, but the case he makes is at least as plausible and internally consistent as anything else in this thread.  |
Thanks for the reference, Liv.
I agree about the plausibility and internal consistency.
I'm skeptical about Herskowitz' claims. Look at his conclusion at the beginning of his paragraph. He claims that Bush was already thinking about invading Iraq in 1999. That may or may not be true, and I infer that you recognize this. After reading Herskowitz' quote carefully, I note that he quotes Bush as having said during the campaign, "If I have a chance to invade...." Invade whom? I understand the context in which Herskowitz' claims to be quoting George W. Bush, but the ellipsis occurs in such a convenient spot as to make his conclusion plausible, but not necessarily the only logical inference from the words he alleges Bush spoke. I am acutely aware from time to time that some journalists with agendas or biases will sometimes carefully cobble together quotes from various parts of an interview, or even from different interviews altogether, so as to lend support to the assertion the journalist is making. This could be one of those instances.
On the other hand, the ellipsis could simply be illustrative of how Bush tends to speak in broken fragments and incomplete thoughts. Herskowitz could be quoting Bush precisely in context, and Bush may have in fact meant what Herskowitz claims he did. I don't have enough information available to me at the moment to reach a firm conclusion one way or the other.
It is a provocative paragraph.
Cool Hand
Re: 100 facts and 1 opinion
Hybrid Mode
