Obama Appointed Secretary of Defense Penetta Says US Invaded Iraq Because of 9/11?!?!?!

[tekisui]

Source: Chicago Tribune

Reporting from Baghdad—
In language strikingly reminiscent of the Bush administration's justification for invading Iraq, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told a group of U.S. soldiers at a base outside Baghdad on Monday that "the reason you guys are here is because on 9/11 the United States got attacked."

His words seemed to be at odds with arguments made by President Barack Obama and other critics of the 2003 invasion, who have said that Al Qaeda, which carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S., only developed a presence in Iraq after the Bush administration decision to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

"The reason you guys are here is because on 9/11 the United States got attacked, and 3,000 Americans — not just Americans — 3,000 human beings got killed, innocent humans got killed, because of Al Qaeda, and we've been fighting as a result of that," he told soldiers at a large U.S. base near Baghdad.

Panetta, who took over the Pentagon earlier this month, quickly clarified that he had not meant that Al Qaeda had been in Iraq before the U.S. invasion, but that once it emerged in Iraq after 2003 it became necessary for U.S troops to respond.

more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-fg-0712-panetta-iraq-20110712,0,3859681.story

[JuniperLea]

1. That is exactly the reason for the wars...

That is exactly what BushCo did... got us into those wars for those reasons.

They were really lame reasons and made no sense, but that is why we are there now.

[mike_c]

3. that's not at all what he said....

He said "the reason you are here is because America was attacked on 9/11" not "the reason you are here is because Bush screwed up." Panetta repeated the revisionist meme as though it were truth, not to highlight its falsehood.

[tekisui]

6. Sad that a DOD Secretary under a Democrat is still parroting neocon talking

points. Hard to tell a difference.

[mazzarro]

16. And this is one example of the reasons some people say the

democratic and rethuglican parties are two branches of one and the same corporate/neo BS party.

[Hawkowl]

45. No question as to who is running the country

It is the Military/Industrial complex. They want war and profits and they will get them.

[TheKentuckian]

9. BushCo went into Iraq to please the MIC, to give himself the "War President" aura,

and to secure resources for the multi-nationals.

9/11 may have provided some convenient cover but the war was on the table from day one.

Bush knew good and well that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and Panetta gives Bush more cover by using the frame and almost had to be done on purpose.

[kath]

25. he also did it to rescue his daddy's balls from the desert of Iraq.

[indepat]

42. Disgracefully so, imo

;) :patriot:

[Mimosa]

51. +1,000 n/t

[DJ13]

2. Neocons arent just Republicans

[xphile]

20. True that. +1 n/t

[KoKo]

54. Seems more an more true the further on down the road we go...

:-(

[NightWatcher]

4. 2nd verse same as the first, 2nd verse, just a little bit worse

what creeps me out even more is the musical chairs from CIA to DoD and vice versa.

[Cali_Democrat]

7. Very creepy indeed. n/t

[mike_c]

10. once you find someone willing to sell their grandmother into slavery...

...or kill someone else's grandmother in support of corporate greed and partisan ideology, it's a shame to let them go.

[tekisui]

11. The CIA is its own quasi-military. Complete with wars and assassinations.

The revolving door is very disturbing, though.

[Ichingcarpenter]

5. He also said that we will keep 70,000 troops in Afuckistan

The new defence secretary also committed a faux pas in Afghanistan on Saturday, telling reporters the United States intends to keep 70,000 troops there until 2014.

Read more: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/panetta-makes-9-11-gaffe-iraq-...

[tekisui]

8. Yep. Wars without end.

[Ichingcarpenter]

15. Well he was at the CIA before Defense so

I guess he knows........ The CIA and Defense are full of lifers that look at their boss as just a temporary figurehead as they do Presidents... They do what they want just like Cartman.

[WinkyDink]

12. Technically, he is correct: We illegally invaded Iraq when given the excuse of 9/11.

[tekisui]

14. I thought it was due to WMDs and mushroom clouds and chemical weapons

trailers. And of course securing resources for multi-nationals.

[WinkyDink]

44. Those WMD's are here somewhere!

[QC]

13. Many neocons have been Democrats, like Scoop Jackson

and the young Poddy and Kristol.

[amborin]

31. and vice versa (and one can change the verb tense, too, to the present)

have been -> are

[KamaAina]

43. Throw Sam Nunn in there

then turn on the Dis-Pos-All. :eyes:

[QC]

50. Ah yes, how could I forget him, the one whose response to letting LGBT troops serve

free of harassment was to take the press on a tour of a sub and show them what small spaces our red-blooded American boys would have to share with those predatory sodomites.

Good ole Sam Nunn.

[spanone]

17. bullshit leon, junior was trying to prove to papa he was a big boy. nothing else.

[tekisui]

18. AND HE IS SECRETARY OF DEFENSE!

We are so fucked.

[msongs]

19. he is Obama's secretary of defense, deliberately and by design. got it? nt

[tekisui]

21. Oh, I got it. It was his choice, out of anyone it could have been.

[spanone]

40. he's fucking over there rattling sabres at iran.....we are fucked

[KoKo]

22. One more piece of disappointing news to add to the puzzle...

:-( I had hopes that Panetta was there to wind down the wars.. Some articles from people seemed to say this was a good move. These were pundits who lean Democrat that I was reading...not RW'ers.

So...it's disappointing to see the Neo-Con..Bush/Cheney rhetoric getting new legs when we have a Democratic President.

[tekisui]

23. So far, Penetta has done this, is pushing Iraq to decide

on extending troop presence past 2011, even engaging in talks. He has also tipped off that we will keep 70,000 in Afghanistan until the end of 2014, at least. He is no better than Gates or Rummy.

[Kaleko]

24. Disappointing?

It's devastating. Totally devastating if you think about the implications.

This is a disillusionment on an ever-widening scale, and it keeps unfolding, step by step, like a controlled demolition of the American dream in slow-motion. Those who desperately want to cling to the last shreds of hope that the two sides, Democrats and Republicans, are not merely two heads of the same snake are going to be in a helluva lot of psychological pain.

[KoKo]

46. Yeah...I know. I was trying to be "Politically Correct"...but yeah...

it did strike me as devastating..

[Kaleko]

48. ...

:hug:

[enough]

26. The continuing story of Obama and his administration accepting and promulgating the

right-wing view of the world is unacceptable. It's one thing to say that the President is unable to "turn the ship around," but it's entirely another to have him constantly refusing to even come down on the side of the true version of events. I thought Barack Obama would at least help the country to understand what has been happening to it.

[louis-t]

27. He's brainwashed, too?

Jeez.

[Liberalynn]

28. Revisionist History Anyone?

[dissidentboomer]

29. "Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss."

[MilesColtrane]

30. He's more correct than he knows.

Americans wouldn't have allowed Bush to invade Iraq without the shock, grief, desire for revenge generated by the 9/11 attacks.

[ladjf]

32. Not that 9-11 excuse again! He's either stupid or a crook. nt

[Kaleko]

37. Please... do you really think that Leon Panetta, the ex-CIA director is ignorant

about the facts of who is responsible for the events on 9/11 and why it was needed to get on with the New American Century program?

Sheesh! That man is as cunning as his predecessor spooks. Certainly not a bungling idiot who doesn't know shit from shinola.

[ladjf]

39. I don't think for a second that Panetta is dumb. My statement was

that he was either ignorant or a crook. That was my way of saying that he is just another disingenuous
crook, typical of many of our top Government officials. I do believe that he has consistently been promoted to levels beyond his capabilities beginning when he worked in the White House.

The fact that Obama moved him to Secretary of Defense clearly reveals Obama's aspirations.

[ladjf]

33. I feel like Americans are in a giant garbage can and that the

Government is hurling mountains of trash on top of us. It's getting hard to breath and think down here. nt

[KoKo]

53. You make an interesting point... SUFFOCATION! Thanks for that point. n/t

[Javaman]

34. Ah the old problem with integrity...

can't tell them the truth, that would make the moron* and his room full of dopes look bad.

our political system and its participants have divorced themselves from reality because it's easier to continue a monumental lie then to tell the truth and get people really really pissed off. And as such, huge sections of the population has to continue to lie to themselves so they don't get all mad and crazy.

it's all about spinning the yarn and not rocking the boat...a boat that is full of holes.

[derby378]

35. Once a neocon clown, always a fucking neocon clown

Obama really screwed up by putting this guy in charge.

[Rex]

36. Whenever I am feeling really stupid, I just turn on the TVEE for about

5 minutes to see what my 'leaders' have to say and then suddenly I feel a lot smarter then I did.

Iraq was invaded for the oil and resources we could steal, pillage and plunder...there has never been one sold reason for the war...just that it was illegal and should have been stopped with GWB facing criminal charges of warmongering in a 35 mile an hour zone.

Sadly, no on in charge cares.

[Karmadillo]

38. Go Two Party System!!!

nt

[tnlefty]

49. I know I shouldn't have as the implications are painful, but

I :rfol: at your comment.

[sad sally]

41. OMG, did Panetta go to Bush school?

''See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda.''

—President George W. Bush, Greece, N.Y., May 24, 2005

[SidDithers]

47. You deny that Bush invaded Iraq because of 9/11?...

Where were you through all of 2002?

Sid

[KoKo]

52. Oh Come On there SID...We Invaded Iraq because they had Fellatious WMD...put out by

PNAC/NeoCons and the rest of the MIC!

Who are you trying to kid here on DU... You think that you can get by those of us who have a history of MONITORING ALL THIS?

[tekisui]

55. Anyone who has not been in a coma for 8 years knows

we did not invade Iraq because of 9/11.