During last Wednesday’s televised address from the Oval Office, George W. Bush said, “We thank the 36 nations who have troops on the ground in Iraq.”
As it turns out, you’ll be stunned to learn that his number was a lie. But it wouldn’t be the first time the Administration has lied about who is, and isn’t, a part of the so-called “Multinational Coalition” in Iraq, as The BRAD BLOG reported exclusively as far back as October of 2004, prior to the Presidential Election.
Concerning Bush’s “36 nations” mentioned last week, Spencer Ackerman reports, in an exclusive over at TPM, that the number is fudged at best, and just another unsupportable, outright lie by the administration at worst. The White House’s fuzzy math used to comprise the “36 nations” with “troops on the ground in Iraq” apparently includes several nations which “aren’t in Iraq in any capacity anymore,” according to Ackerman.
The number also includes Canada’s one soldier who had been serving at the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), who has since been withdrawn; New Zealand’s single troop (yes, like Canada, just one!) commitment to UNAMI; Tonga’s now-withdrawn force; a single press aide from Iceland; and an unknown number from Hungary which may, or may not, have anybody still in Iraq at all as part of a tiny NATO contingent.
Bush’s prepared statement lie on national television last week, however, simply continues the pattern set years ago, prior to the 2004 Presidential Election, by Dick Cheney, as The BRAD BLOG exposed in a series of reports back then in what would become our first breakthrough story to be picked up by both national and international media alike…
The exposé came about after Cheney had angrily attacked John Edwards during the Vice-Presidential Debate after Edwards had the temerity (and accuracy) to suggest that American forces were taking “90 percent of coalition casualties.”
Dick Cheney’s angry, disingenuous response in turn was to charge that Edwards was “dead wrong” and that his comments were “beyond the pale” because he wasn’t including Iraq among his list of “coalition casualties.”
But upon checking the White House website to see if they themselves had listed Iraq on their “Coalition of the Willing” page, we found that though the link to the page was still there, the page itself, which had once listed coalition nations, had been conveniently, if clumsily, scrubbed from the site entirely.
After our original report, we began receiving tips that other inconvenient truths had been excised as well. For example, the video of Bush announcing that he was “not that concerned about” Osama Bin Laden, had been removed after he’d pronounced in the third Presidential debate: “Gosh, I just don’t think I ever said I’m not worried about Osama bin Laden. It’s kind of one of those exaggerations.”
Media pressure in the wake of the story, and the multitudes of additional embarrassing information revealed as missing, eventually led the White House webmasters to spend untold hours restoring terrabytes of audio and video to their website, in the final week of the 2004 campaign, after we revealed the scrubbing to be in apparent violation of the Presidential Records Act of 1978.
Among other media, the story was covered by the AFP and Washington Post at the time. Reuters would eventually pick up the story as well — an incredible three months later, in late January of 2005.
(A special coverage page with all of the key articles in the series is posted here.)
Nonetheless, the pattern of both lying and attempts at re-writing history and scrubbing official records was continued by the White House long since. As has the pattern of bloggers covering what the mainstream media have failed to.
For those who are finally “sorry” about their vote for Bush in 2004, we might suggest that had you read The BRAD BLOG at the time, there would be few, if any, surprises for you today.
The Bush Reign of Lies and Betrayal continues apace, to quote David Byrne, “same as it ever was.”
Drudge has huge headlines:
I have been saying that here on Bradblog for years, and so have “6 or 7” other bloggers here.
The real shock is how brain dead the faux snooze is. The regime is composed of 99.9% lies and the joke on the MSM is that they try to make it sound true most of the time.
It is a bit like Bill Maher (who is a wannabe wus on the 9/11 issue) saying those who are skeptical about the bushie regime’s 9/11 pet goat bedtime story should get professional help.
What a complete dork! The public has been polled and it has been reported here on Bradblog!
The professionals one would go to to get help are already skeptical about the bushie regime’s 911 conspiracy theory for professional reasons.
So Billy-M and Bill-O are on the same page, and we are the ones who need to go talk to professionals?
The truth is that Maher has reached his truth chicken-shit zone and cannot fathom that war criminals could do a war crime.
His position is that the truth about 9/11 comes from the bushies????? Real solid logic there Billy-M, roll over Billy-M and tell Bill-O the faux snooze.
Brad, lets put up a new log-on banner along with the many classics already here (“be the media”, “making the truth fun”, “we are the blog, resistance is futile”, etc. etc.).
Add one that says “Hey Bill Maher, we don’t need no chickenshit faux snooze wimps round heaya” 🙂 …
They will continue to lie until they are challenged before the nation and the truth is revealed. The 2004 debates were a perfect forum to get the truth before a captive audience – the nation – but both Kerry and Edwards barely addressed the issue. Everything was so civilized and neither bush or cheney were called on the carpet for their treason. We knew in 2004 what the real reason for invading Iraq – their oil deposits – and the legislature was lied to – why didn’t they call an ace and ace before national television!! Why bush invaded Iraq has a direct correlation to when he wants to leave! Obviously, bush and fellow oil barons want to tap oil for the next 10-20 years or longer at the expense of our children’s and grandchildren’s lives, so they are right on target!!! They have no intention of ever “exiting” Iraq! This is the reason for the rigged elections! Watch Fred Thompson. If he is elected prez (which could happen with the voting machine disaray!), be prepared for Iraq to be continued! He said in a speech in the Villages (audience of middle-upper middle class seniors) he would stay in Iraq. Sounds like a bush wannabe to me!!! Same hokey, down home drawl, same message – ugh!!
So maybe someone can explain this to me.
We start a war on terror because we lied about hitting ourselves and cried wolf.
We Blame the Mideast region and hit Afghanistan then Iraq under the pretenses that our national security isn’t safe.
We keep the same minded leaders in office due to a manipulated voting system.
We want very badly to go after Iran.
And when everyone’s heads are turned we open up all of our borders and create the North American Union.
So my question is
What is the exchange rate going to be for my new Amero currency? Cause I can’t wait to use them. I mean our monetary system has always been flawed, the 2 dollar bill, case in point who DOESN’T want to see that puppy tossed in the trash?
“””””The number also includes Canada’s one soldier who had been serving at the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), who has since been withdrawn; New Zealand’s single troop (yes, like Canada, just one!) commitment to UNAMI; “””””
That means, if the one Canadian guy and the one New Zealand guy died in a Humvee accident, Bush wouldn’t be lying if he said on TV the next day:
“WE MUST STAY IN IRAQ, BECAUSE THE ENTIRE CANADIAN AND NEW ZEALAND COALITION FORCES WERE WIPED OUT TODAY BY AL QUEADA.”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The world has grown too small for war. Killing doesn’t lead to security; revenge gives no satisfaction; and war is a terrible expense with a zero return. The proximity of 5 billion people on the Earth, the immediacy of our connections to each other across all political and physical boundaries through the Net, and the horrors now readily visible in Iraq for everyone involved, expose the stupidity of war worldwide for the first time simultaneously to billions of people.
Nations, their citizens, and eventually their governments can no longer readily avoid the fact that the persons we are killing are fathers, brothers, wives, sisters, mothers, sons, and daughters. Many, perhaps all, have nothing to do with the bombing that started the conflagration. We can not walk away and say it has nothing to do with me just because I wasn’t there.
I am responsible for the deaths of one million Iraqis. They have died in a war against fear that is being waged in my name and I am horrified. I swear to make it my purpose in life to work to bring the people who have lead us to war to war crimes tribunals, where they can be tried before the world for crimes against humanity.
Does Experience Matter? (Clinton and JFK didn’t think so)
This Video Is Showing That Obama can be president because two fmr presidents were
where he is right now, history proves experience makes an either worse president( nixon, bush, vp dick cheney, defense sec.rumsfeld)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=LBy3AKn_2Fk
We’ve sunk to appalling new depths when we have a sitting president appearing before the american people and spewing lies. This is abominable and a sick joke on the american people. “Bubble Boy” is so drastically out of touch with reality that he sits there, make-up overdone, hair slicked down with his hands clasped as though what he is saying has even the slightest shred of truth in it.
Bush has become (in this last prepared speech) the “poster boy” for serious profound and totally delusional psychiatric illness. Let’s get him to a shrink quick. He’s obviously not mentally “fit” to continue to remain in office.
We need impeachment proceedings based on continued lies to the american people. We can no longer accept this nadir in human behavior manifested by our commander in chief.
The “coalition” he refers to is the “crowd in his mind” – aka schizophrenia!
As much as I HATE to say it.
THE DRAFT
I thought the “Coalition in Iraq” has an understood meaning: all those countries’ armies, under joint command with the United States, fighting or contributing military support to the Iraq War.
He didn’t actually use the word “coalition” in the part of the speech Brad is mentioning (“… We thank the 36 nations who have troops on the ground in Iraq …”) but it is easy to read that into it, since every other instance of “troop” in the speech stands for a coalition troop. The personel of other countries in Iraq may also not be troops. So that part of the speech is both misleading and wrong.
It is unfair for Bush to give the “troops” label to countries, for instance, like Canada or other Nato or UN member states, that happen to now have military or other people in Iraq, doing training, humanitarian or other work, at the request of the Iraqi government. GWB doesn’t speak for the Iraqi government, and shouldn’t take it upon himself, especially with poorly chosen words, to offer their thanks. It might even endanger people, because some of those countries were not part of the “coalition”, often do not have “troops”, and are not involved in what the US-led coalition militaries do there. They certainly do not deserve to be military targets.
In a foreign policy speech, every word should be very carefully chosen.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
See wikipedia on troops in Iraq and the link there to Official Coaltion members
Canadian Nato assistance to Iraq
Canada Humanitarian assistance
RCMP training assistance
Some Canadian troops on NATO exchanges fought in Iraq under British or American control –> MacLeans story
Get ready for another war. There are growing drumbeats indicating The Dick and preznit blush are planning to hit Iran.
Both the brits and the french are telling Chikowski the news.
Soon, very soon, the US troops will be the only foreign troops in Iraq because America will lose his last friend due to stubborn and incompetent Bush.
does this work ?