The Flip Flopper -in-Chief! now he's got Iraq to add to the list

[savemefromdumbya]

The GOP did a big stunt on Kerry with their flip flops
now the shoe (or should we say flip flop) is is on the other foot
now we can add Iraq to the list!

1) Flip-Flop #1: Bush has flip-flopped about whether capturing Osama Bin Laden is an important priority for his administration.
FLIP: A week after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Bush said he wanted Osama Bin Laden "dead or alive."

FLOP: But he told reporters six months later, "I truly am not that concerned about him. It's not that important. It's not our priority." He also did not mention bin Laden in his hour-long convention acceptance speech this year.

Bush didn't order U.S. troops into Tora Bora to capture Osama Bin Laden right after the Afghanistan invasion. Instead, he relied on warlords who were of dubious loyalty and ability to find Osama Bin Laden and other members of Al Qaeda in that mountainous region. Later, when Iraq became this administration's priority, it shifted special forces from Afghanistan (where they had been searching for Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda members to Iraq).

What Bush has said about bin Laden at various points in time, depending on how he was trying to spin things:

FLIP: Capturing Osama Bin Laden is the number one priority:

"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him." G.W. Bush, 9/13/01

Washington Post, 9/17/01, UPI: Bush said he wants accused terrorist leader Osama bin Laden "dead or alive.” “I want justice...There's an old poster out West, as I recall, that said, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive,'"- G.W. Bush, 9/17/01, UPI

AP, 12/14/01: President Bush pledged anew Friday that Osama bin Laden will be taken "dead or alive."

FLOP: Capturing OBL no longer a priority:

G.W. Bush, 3/13/02: I don't know where Bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."

"...Secondly, he is not escaping us. This is a guy, who, three months ago, was in control of a county . Now he's maybe in control of a cave. He's on the run. Listen, a while ago I said to the American people, our objective is more than bin Laden. But one of the things for certain is we're going to get him running and keep him running, and bring him to justice. And that's what's happening. He's on the run, if he's running at all. So we don't know whether he's in cave with the door shut, or a cave with the door open -- we just don't know...."
- Bush, in remarks in a Press Availability with the Press Travel Pool, The Prairie Chapel Ranch, Crawford TX, 12/28/01, as reported on official White House site

"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."
- G.W. Bush, 3/13/02

"I am truly not that concerned about him."
- G.W. Bush, responding to a question about bin Laden's whereabouts, 3/13/02 (The New American, 4/8/02) ]

Secondary Sources: A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY by Karen What Bush has said about bin laden... spin: http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/2002/11/13_Laden.html and "President Bush: Flip-Flopper-In-Chief" ( September 2, 2004, Updated)
www.americanprogressaction.org/site/pp.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=118263

(2) Bush flip-flopped on whether former Baathists could participate in the new Iraq government.
FLIP: May 16, 2003: U.S. civil administrator L. Paul Bremer announces a sweeping operation to ensure that Baath Party members are removed from critical positions in the public sector. This ban could affect as many as 30,000 senior Baath Party members.

FLOP: Thursday, April 22, 2004: "The White House confirmed Thursday that the administration is moving to change a postwar policy that blocked members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party from Iraqi government and military positions. . . . The sweeping ban was put in place by civilian administrator Paul Bremer, but he now wants to change the policy as part of an effort to convince Sunnis, who dominate the party, that they are welcome members of the postwar political transition in Iraq.""

Sources:
"Policy easing to bring Baathists into new Iraq" by John King (CNN Washington Bureau) Thursday, April 22, 2004 http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/04/22/iraq.baathist/

"U.S. Reaches Out to Former Members of Baath Party and Senior Iraqi Military Officers" http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA9ZDB9DTD.html

(3) Bush opposed the creation of an independent Sept. 11 commission, then supported it.
FLIP: BUSH OPPOSES CREATION OF INDEPENDENT 9/11 COMMISSION... "President Bush took a few minutes during his trip to Europe Thursday to voice his opposition to establishing a special commission to probe how the government dealt with terror warnings before Sept. 11."

FLOP: BUSH SUPPORTS CREATION OF INDEPENDENT 9/11 COMMISSION "President Bush said today he now supports establishing an independent commission to investigate the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks."

(4) Bush has waffled on whether to adopt the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.
(5) Bush has flip-flopped on whether the War on Terrorism is winnable.
FLIP: First Bush claimed he can win the war on terror: "One of the interesting things people ask me, now that we're asking questions, is, can you ever win the war on terror? Of course, you can."

FLOP: Bush says war on terror is unwinnable: "I don't think you can win ."

FLIP: Bush then says he will win the war on terror: "Make no mistake about it, we are winning and we will win ."

Secondary source: "President Bush: Flip-Flopper-In-Chief" (September 2, 2004, Updated)
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/site/pp.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=118263

more and more....at:
http://www.50bushflipflops.com/Introduction/home.html

[liberal N proud]

1. Bush's Top Ten Flip-Flops - CBS News

This was back in Sept. 2004:

(CBS) The charge of "flip-flopping" has resounded throughout the presidential race, with the Bush campaign repeatedly accusing Sen. John Kerry of changing his mind on the issues. The Kerry campaign, in turn, has declared that Mr. Bush is the one doing the flip-flopping.

CBSNews.com Chief Political Writer David Paul Kuhn looks at the record and finds both men are correct. Here, the president's most notable flip-flops.

"We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories."(May 29, 2003)

"I recognize we didn't find the stockpiles we all thought were there." (Sept. 9, 2004)
President Bush

Weapons of Mass Destruction
Nation Building and the War in Iraq
Iraq and the Sept. 11 Attacks
The Sept. 11 Commission
Free Trade
Homeland Security Department
Same-Sex Marriage
Winning the War on Terror
Campaign Finance Reform
Gas Prices
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/28/politics/main646142.shtml

[rodeodance]

2. flip flop does not seem to stick to Repugs.

[savemefromdumbya]

3. I guess the media are behind them?

[LEW]

4. How about

There was a crooked group of men who walked a crooked mile