Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof -- the smoking gun -- that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.
In an October 7, 2002 speech soaking in lies, the above may have been Bully Boy's most memorable moment. We heard all about the "mushroom cloud." It was the talking point that was supposed to strike fear in the hearts of America and cloud the minds to actual facts. Condi
pimped it ("We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."). They planted it in the press. As Arianna Huffington pointed out on Democracy Now! (we lost two paragraphs by including this link -- we'll put the link in here: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/11/11/157250) in 2005, Judith Miller (and Michael Gordon, as Amy Goodman noted) were fed false claims by the administration and they printed it, Dick Cheney goes on Meet the Press, holds up the front page of The New York Times and says you don't have to take his word on, look, it's in The New York Times! Though Miller got the bum's rush, Gordo's still at the paper and that should tell you something. Instead of asking questions like "What proof?" the press ran with false claims over and over. The administration couldn't have sold the illegal war alone.
So where we are? Monday is the 4th annivesary of the start of the illegal war -- the "cakewalk" that turned into a mudslide. Over 655,000 Iraqis have died.
3217 US service members have died. (23,417 US service members have been wounded.) 134 British troops have died. 124 "other" troops have died. 153 journalists have died (64 have been kidnapped during the war -- 11 of which are 'status unknown'). The US financial cost of the war as we write this is $409,305,853,271 (and rising). Approximately 140,000 US service members are currently stationed in Iraq. In January, Bully Boy began pushing for an escalation and told Congress and the American people the number would be 21,500. The American people said "no" in repeated polls. Congress did nothing. Bully Boy then upped it, in February, to 4,500 more and, Bryan Bender (Boston Globe) reports, it's being upped again (2,500 to 3,000). So he floated the notion of 21,500 and the American people said "no." Now he's moving it closer to 30,000.
Instead of warning us about the supposed "mushroom cloud," the press should have been warning us about the "mushroom clod." Nothing's brought more instability and ill will to the world than the Bully Boy and his 'wars' on terror and Iraq. Poll after poll demonstrates that people around the world see him as the greatest threat, study after study demonstrates that his actions have made the world less stable.
As a body, Congress refuses to stand up to him on these actions. They refuse to use their power of the purse, they refuse to filibuster. The House of Representatives even removed the measure that would require him to get the permission of the Congress before going to war with Iran. (Something that is Constitutionally required; however, he's used the War Powers Act passed after 9-11 to justify his actions and Congress has refused to call him out on it.)
In recent weeks, it's been one scandal after another. Dick Cheney's right hand (until he was indicted) was convicted on four out of five charges. The Walter Reed Army Medical Center scandals demonstrated that the same lack of compassion for Iraqis was also shown to US service members. The attempt to fire state attorney generals (who weren't "Bushies") and replace them while circumventing the legal process (Congressional approval) is one long unfolding scandal. One thing after another, but Congress won't explore impeachment.
Bully Boy's the mushroom clod, Congress is becoming the one supplying him with the power to continue to be that.
