The Decider Lies About Who Disbanded Iraq's Military

[bigtree]

from Washington Note: http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/002320.php


September 02, 2007

The Decider Still Doesn't Know Who Disbanded Iraq's Military

President Bush still does not know who actually controverted his policy on keeping Saddam's military intact and instead disbanded it. That's an incredible admission -- unbelievable!

This from a revealing New York Times piece today on Bush biographer Robert Draper's interviews with Bush (and in his forthcoming book Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush):

Mr. Bush acknowledged one major failing of the early occupation of Iraq when he said of disbanding the Saddam Hussein-era military, "The policy was to keep the army intact; didn't happen."

But when Mr. Draper pointed out that Mr. Bush's former Iraq administrator, L. Paul Bremer III, had gone ahead and forced the army's dissolution and then asked Mr. Bush how he reacted to that, Mr. Bush said, "Yeah, I can't remember, I'm sure I said, "This is the policy, what happened?"� But, he added, "Again, Hadley's got notes on all of this stuff,''� referring to Stephen J. Hadley, his national security adviser.

Those still in doubt about how Iraq's military forces were disbanded and the incompetence and unaccountable idiocy that ran rampant during Bremer's reign at the Coalition Provisional Authority, watch the dog fight between former senior CPA Office of Reconstruction special initiatives chief Paul Hughes and former Senior Advisor for National Defense in the Coalition Provisional Authority Walter Slocombe in the Sundance Special Jury Grand Prize winning No End in Sight.

Hughes is the good guy in the film -- and in the real life situation. And Slocombe admits on film that he decided to disband the military -- he just did it, without authorization from anyone.

And Bush still doesn't get how this happened? or why? And no one has paid a price. . .


http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/002320.php

[speedoo]

1. To say Bush is a fucking idiot is oversimplifying this tragedy.

It has already cost so much, and the worls will be paying for their idiocy and incompetence for decades.

[aquart]

2. He's a criminal, not an idiot.

Please don't let him get away with these convenient memory losses.

He signed off on all of it.

[librechik]

5. he's an idiotic criminal--he hasn't gotten away with anything, he has been repeatedly caught

the only reason he hasn't been prosecuted is becasue his gang is infiltrated everywhere in positions of decisions where accountability would begin. And they are still there, no matter what the Dems in congress do.

Yeah, they're incompetent and stupid--but they hold the levers of power and they aren't giving them up easily. I seriously fear for the coming election if the middle east is in chaos. 9/11 changed everything, you know. Will the media go along? They have so far.

[aquart]

13. I can live with that.

[speedoo]

6. He is both.

But I don't agree with you that signed off on all this stuff. His criminality with regard to this point is his negligence, IMO.

I have no doubt that he is a criminal more directly in many ways, however.

[bananarepublican]

18. Bush is a 'fidiot'! n/t

[TwilightGardener]

3. To assume that Bush needed to know about anything is to assume

that he was more than a friendly figurehead to stand in front of the snarling Cheney. Giving Chimpy WAY too much credit here. Of COURSE he's clueless--he can only point to his staff, he has no real idea of what they were actually doing.

[JeffR]

4. Well put

though I must add that Bush sux at being a "friendly figurehead" as much as he sux at everything else he's done.

[Trillo]

7. This could also be a deliberate tactic

to create that appearance. Often, the top guy has a lower guy acting the baddie.

While Bush is either ignorant or pretending to be ignorant, remember that he's the one that signed all the executive orders and signing statements.

Also remember all the lies that have been told. Open, moving lips and all.

[TahitiNut]

8. The puppeteer didn't tell the puppet.

Anyone who truly believes Junior is effectively in charge is deluded. Through a combination of Chimpy's near-total intellectual sloth and his manipulability inherent in his pathological narcissism, he's acting out the directions of others, most obviously Cheney.

[Richard Steele]

11. I agree completely. That's a pretty accurate and concise summation. nm

[Yupster]

9. In Bremer's book, he addressed

this criticism by saying that he didn't actually disband the Iraqi Army, but by the time he got there, it had disbanded itself by walking home. I didn't see his argument as very strong as certainly he could have called back some of the better regiments, etc.

To me the most interesting tid-bit from his book though was when he just hit Baghdad, he met with the seven ex-patriot leaders who told him he needed to give them the government and they'd run things. He told the story to show how ridiculous they were. How could he give power to these guys who weren't elected by anyone and hadn't even lived in Iraq for years. They needed elections, town councils, voter rolls a Constitution. The ex-patriots told him he didn't have that kind of time and the Iraqis wouldn't put up with a long term occupation.

He used the story to say how ridiculous they were, but looking back, they look pretty smart today.

It was an interesting book. Bush's role was to always tell Bremer to do it right and not worry about how long it took. Pretty bad advice looking back.

[LeFleur1]

10. Free Pass

Why are people giving * a free pass? He is the President and the buck stops with him. He might want to play the puppet, but we shouldn't allow that. It seems to me he's been able to wiggle out of every stinkin, rotten thing he has ever done, mainly because people excuse him, thinking he's so incapable he can't be blamed.
He can, and should be blamed for this whole mess...along with the rest of the gang.

[bigtree]

12. ex-patriot leaders

like Maliki, Allawi, and Chalabi. Ridiculous.

[slipslidingaway]

14. Video, he would not let the inspectors in

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=385&topic_id=33882

"Romney wasn't the first Republican to try and suggest Saddam "left us with no choice but to invade" because "he wouldn't let the inspectors in".

I remembered clearly stories on the news of UN Weapons Inspectors *in* Iraq days before the invasion "bulldozing Saddam's al Samoud missiles".

So I tracked down a bunch of news clips, and put it together in one YouTube video. Enjoy!

"UN IAEA Inspectors in Iraq destroying missiles (2003)"

The GOP has been trying to rewrite history. Unfortunately for them, we have a little something called "video tape"!

[Pierzin]

15. "No End In Sight"- Should be Required Viewing by all Americans

This is just a truly astonishing documentary. I saw it myself just a few weeks ago. And my friends wonder why I am so pissed off every time I see * on the TV. Everywhere George Bush goes, Death follows him, I swear to God, Mike Malloy is right.
Yes, I really felt for Paul Hughes, he was just astonished, as astonished as Gen Jay Garner was to be releived of command to the toe sucker Paul Bremmer.

Christ, they must have thought that up and said, "hmm how can we piss off the natives and create an insurgency?" and someone in that secret meeting must have said "Let's fire the entire government, from the military, fire, police, government workers, doctors, all the way down. That way more American companies can get rich on no bid contracts."..... or something like that.

[Triana]

16. The Decider LIES about Everything (n/t)

[orleans]

17. now, this was what fuckhead nearly killed himself not to say:

But when Mr. Draper pointed out that Mr. Fuckhead's former Iraq administrator, L. Paul Moron III, had gone ahead and forced the army's dissolution and then asked Mr. Fuckhead how he reacted to that, Mr. Fuckhead said, "Yeah, I can't remember'cause I was probably drunk as a skunk--hea, hea. I'm sure I pulled my head out of my ass a bit and said, "This is a great goddamn idea, what happened? Did someone I know actually have a good idea for once?" But, he added, "Again, Hadley's got notes on all of this stuff,' referring to Stephen J. Hadley, his national security adviser. "And he's got tapes too. But I told him he'd better get rid of those things...you know, just in case. Hea, hea."

[ms liberty]

19. Really he is just too much...how has W avoided being a Darwin Award winner for so long? n/t

[k-robjoe]

20. What was that story

What was that story a week or so ago, about Bush taking this decision over lunch, and - was it - Powell being shocked about it? Wasn´t that about the iraqi army?

[Marr]

21. He knows very well. That was a very unconvincing CYA comment-- that's all.

Really now, he says essentially that his comment was, "hey that's not the policy"? In other words, "I never agreed with such a stupid move-- it was my staff. The people in this group refer to him as "The Leader", remember, and they have a view of the Presidency as something like an Emperor.

I've no doubt there are some that act on their own, like Dick Cheney, but that's not the standard. Bush knew what was going on here, and the idiot sanctioned it. This particular move (firing the Iraqi army) always reeked of his simplistic, dualist thinking.

And really-- how do you suppose Bush would react if one of his staff went against his stated "policy"? Would he just meekly accept it? Has he ever done so on other matters, like science or tax policy?

[rodeodance]

22. He is such a busy man---can't remember everything yah know!

[Disturbed]

23. This will be his defense on every freakin' crime he has committed.

Yeah, he is not too bright but clever enough to cover himself. He is a Silver Spoon Sociopath. As with most Sociopaths, he can be charming & goofy but underneath he is evil. He is a repugnant person. It makes me sick that he is still in the job that he surely was never & still is not qualified for.

[bridgit]

24. bush never wanted to *be* involved beyond being able to claim himself a "war...

president" with "war on (his) mind", and get to push people around like chips on a poker table cause everyone from his poppy on down has told him that you aren't a real president until you've waged a war...and so he did, he's 'the decider', but imo he's mostly just there for the contacts after he leaves, and the free pretzels

it has been said he loved his dad being in the WH the most; being able to snap your fingers and get a PB&J sammich at 3am while coming & going at his whim smirking at people...

he wanted back in the most, now he is there, and he must be held accountable

no more free-basing G.H.W.'s rolodex for buyouts & bailouts: he's the decider, he's the "war president", he wanted it, he got it, it's his and he needs to buy it cause he broke it no more excuses