[Vision2020] Bush flip-flops on Iraq

[Donovan Arnold]

9/22/04

Dear Mr. Bush,

I am so confused. Where exactly do you stand on the issue of Iraq? You, your
Dad, Rummy, Condi, Colin, and Wolfie -- you have all changed your minds so
many times, I am out of breath just trying to keep up with you!

Which of these 10 positions that you, your family and your cabinet have
taken over the years represents your CURRENT thinking:

1983-88: WE LOVE SADDAM. On December 19, 1983, Donald Rumsfeld was sent by
your dad and Mr. Reagan to go and have a friendly meeting with Saddam
Hussein, the dictator of Iraq. Rummy looked so happy in the picture. Just
twelve days after this visit, Saddam gassed thousands of Iranian troops.
Your dad and Rummy seemed pretty happy with the results because The Donald R
went back to have another chummy hang-out with Saddams right-hand man,
Tariq Aziz, just four months later. All of this resulted in the U.S.
providing credits and loans to Iraq that enabled Saddam to buy billions of
dollars worth of weapons and chemical agents. The Washington Post reported
that your dad and Reagan let it be known to their Arab allies that the
Reagan/Bush administration wanted Iraq to win its war with Iran and anyone
who helped Saddam accomplish this was a friend of ours.

1990: WE HATE SADDAM. In 1990, when Saddam invaded Kuwait, your dad and his
defense secretary, Dick Cheney, decided they didn't like Saddam anymore so
they attacked Iraq and returned Kuwait to its rightful dictators.

1991: WE WANT SADDAM TO LIVE. After the war, your dad and Cheney and Colin
Powell told the Shiites to rise up against Saddam and we would support them.
So they rose up. But then we changed our minds. When the Shiites rose up
against Saddam, the Bush inner circle changed its mind and decided NOT to
help the Shiites. Thus, they were massacred by Saddam.

1998: WE WANT SADDAM TO DIE. In 1998, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and others, as
part of the Project for the New American Century, wrote an open letter to
President Clinton insisting he invade and topple Saddam Hussein.

2000: WE DON'T BELIEVE IN WAR AND NATION BUILDING. Just three years later,
during your debate with Al Gore in the 2000 election, when asked by the
moderator Jim Lehrer where you stood when it came to using force for regime
change, you turned out to be a downright pacifist:

I--I would take the use of force very seriously. I would be guarded in my
approach. I don't think we can be all things to all people in the world. I
think we've got to be very careful when we commit our troops. The vice
president [Al Gore] and I have a disagreement about the use of troops. He
believes in nation building. I--I would be very careful about using our
troops as nation builders. I believe the role of the military is to fight
and win war and, therefore, prevent war from happening in the first place.
And so I take my--I take my--my responsibility seriously. --October 3, 2000

2001 (early): WE DON'T BELIEVE SADDAM IS A THREAT. When you took office in
2001, you sent your Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and your National
Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice, in front of the cameras to assure the
American people they need not worry about Saddam Hussein. Here is what they
said:

Powell: We should constantly be reviewing our policies, constantly be
looking at those sanctions to make sure that they have directed that purpose
That purpose is every bit as important now as it was 10 years ago when we
began it. And frankly, they have worked. He has not developed any
significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is
unable to project conventional power against his neighbors. --February 24,
2001

Rice: But in terms of Saddam Hussein being there, let's remember that his
country is divided, in effect. He does not control the northern part of his
country. We are able to keep arms from him. His military forces have not
been rebuilt. --July 29, 2001

2001 (late): WE BELIEVE SADDAM IS GOING TO KILL US! Just a few months later,
in the hours and days after the 9/11 tragedy, you had no interest in going
after Osama bin Laden. You wanted only to bomb Iraq and kill Saddam and you
then told all of America we were under imminent threat because weapons of
mass destruction were coming our way. You led the American people to believe
that Saddam had something to do with Osama and 9/11. Without the UN's
sanction, you broke international law and invaded Iraq.

2003: WE DONT BELIEVE SADDAM IS GOING TO KILL US. After no WMDs were found,
you changed your mind about why you said we needed to invade, coming up with
a brand new after-the-fact reason -- we started this war so we could have
regime change, liberate Iraq and give the Iraqis democracy!

2003: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Yes, everyone saw you say it -- in costume, no
less!

2004: OOPS. MISSION NOT ACCOMPLISHED! Now you call the Iraq invasion a
catastrophic "success"; that's what you called it this month. Over a
thousand U.S. soldiers have died, Iraq is in a state of total chaos where no 
one is
safe, and you have no clue how to get us out of there.

Mr. Bush, please tell us -- when will you change your mind again?

I know you hate the words "flip" and "flop, so I won't  use them both on you
In fact, I'll use just one: Flop. That is what you are. A huge, colossal
flop. The war is a flop, your advisors and the "intelligence"; they
gave you is a flop, and now we are all a flop to the rest of the world. 
Flop. Flop.
Flop.

And you have the audacity to criticize John Kerry with what you call the
many "positions"; he has taken on Iraq. By my count, he has taken only
one: He believed you. That was his position. You told him and the rest of 
congress
that Saddam had WMDs. So he -- and the vast majority of Americans, even
those who didn't vote for you -- believed you. You see, Americans, like John
Kerry, want to live in a country where they can believe their President.

That was the one, single position John Kerry took. He didn't support the war
he supported YOU. And YOU let him and this great country down. And that is
why tens of millions can't wait to get to the polls on Election Day -- to
remove a major, catastrophic flop from our dear, beloved White House -- to
stop all the flipping you and your men have done, flipping us and the rest
of the world off.

We can't take another minute of it.

Yours,

Michael Moore

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