All the cobblers about Iraq attempting to purchase uranium in
Niger, & the imminent threat posed to the USA and its allies
was not a "smoking gun", just smoke and mirrors conjured up
to justify the White House's policy of regime change in Iraq.

==============================================================

19 August 2002

White House Reiterates Regime Change in Iraq is U.S. Policy

White House Report, 19 August

REGIME CHANGE IN IRAQ

President Bush is committed to a policy of regime change in Iraq, 
White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters August 19 
when asked about Iraq.  

President Bush "has been very clear that Saddam Hussein continues to 
pose a threat to peace," Fleischer said, adding that the President 
intends to continue to consult with world leaders and members of the 
U.S. Congress about this threat "as he makes up his mind about what 
is the best way to deal" with it.  

Bush "is sending one signal, and it's a clear signal that...time is not 
on our side," Fleischer said, noting that Saddam Hussein "left unchecked 
has shown a willingness in the past to use weapons, including weapons 
of mass destruction."  

Bush views the recent Congressional hearing on Iraq that Senate 
Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Senator Joseph Biden 
(Democrat-Delaware) held and "the debate that is percolating 
across the country, as a very important part of our democracy.  

"It's part of what keeps the American people informed and it keeps 
the American people in support of the policies that the President has 
articulated. The American people support regime change because they 
recognize the threat that Saddam Hussein poses," Fleischer said.  

"The American people also recognize that they've elected a President 
and the President has surrounded himself with a security team that is 
wise, that is deliberative, and that is strong. And it's a team that 
will act to protect our country," Fleischer said.  

Asked whether the President has spoken to Brent Scowcroft or any of 
his critics on the Iraqi situation, Fleischer responded:  

"I don't know if the President has spoken to him or not. But I tell you, 
the President doesn't look at the many voices that he's hearing about 
Iraq as critics; he looks at them as thoughtful people who have a lot of 
experience, who also recognize the menace that's posed by Saddam 
Hussein, the threat that is posed. And he views this as a constructive 
part of a process where the country benefits from a variety of thoughts 
and opinions, much of which are much closer to what the President is 
thinking than I think some of the reports have been," the White House 
Press Secretary said.  

Scowcroft, national security adviser under Bush's father, wrote in the 
Wall Street Journal Angust 15 that "An attack on Iraq at this time would 
seriously jeopardize, if not destroy, the global counterterrorist campaign 
we have undertaken."  

(snip)

http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/nea/iraq/text/0819wthsrpt.htm


Pity they chose to ignore Scowcroft.

Cheers, Steve...

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