Letter to the Editor: Not a liar

By Sun Advocate

Editor:
Sometimes while traveling I listen to various radio talk shows.
Last Saturday evening happened to be one of those occasions, and I listened for about five minutes then turned the program off when the host accused President Bush of lying about the terrorist situation to lead us into war with Iraq. No one wants war, but that accusation is itself a worse misrepresentation than the one he is laying at the feet of our elected representative, the Commander in Chief.
So exactly what is a lie? I checked with my American Heritage Dictionary and found that to lie is “to present false information with the intention of deceiving.” I have at my fingertips the report of over 600 pages by the commission that was appointed to investigate the failures in intelligence at the time the country entered into the war on terrorism. They investigated everything that was in the hands of Congress, the White House, and other branches of government. The commission found that there were some errors in the intelligence that was gathered indicating that Saddam was interested in obtaining nuclear material. That could be called “false information.” If that source was used by President Bush with the intention of deceiving, then that would certainly qualify as a lie.
If President Bush lied, then we also need to look at his accomplice liars. Practically every politician since 1992 to the present time has voted for resolutions demanding that Saddam stop his building of weapons of mass destruction.
Saddam Hussein was probably the most dangerous weapon of mass destruction all by himself. If someone wants to kill others, it doesn’t take a nuclear bomb to do it. Saddam killed and tortured thousands with many kinds of weapons. He even used cleavers and axes to sever fingers and hands. The whole world knew that he was one of the chief terrorists. Senators and representative voted on numerous occasions to support President Clinton in his token attack of Iraq.
You will recognize this quote from the Democratic Platform as being given during the hard fought political campaigns before President Bush was elected.
“In Iraq, we are committed to working with our international partners to keep Saddam Hussein boxed in, and we will work to see him out of power. Bill Clinton and Al Gore have stood up to Saddam Hussein time and time again. As President, Al Gore will not hesitate to use America’s military might against Iraq when and where it is necessary.”
If President Bush lied, then we honestly have to say that he had a lot of company. We have to include all of the Congress, the CIA, FBI, the United Nations, the intelligence study commission, and many sources of intelligence from other countries. They were all acting on the same information, and I believe that it is hard to deny that Saddam Hussein was a real threat to the peace of the world.