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Venus flytraps caught in shrinking natural habitat
Southern Ledger - October 6, 2008
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Curfew in Indian Kashmir to prevent protest rally
Southern Ledger - October 6, 2008
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Kashmir police threaten to shoot curfew violators
Southern Ledger - October 6, 2008
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Taliban, Afghan officials meet in Saudi Arabia
Southern Ledger - October 6, 2008
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Pakistan to deport all Afghans from tribal region
Southern Ledger - October 6, 2008
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Lehman sought millions for execs while seeking aid
Southern Ledger - October 6, 2008
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Colbert on Colbert Its fun playing a jerk
Southern Ledger - October 6, 2008
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Dancing with the Stars contestant injured
Southern Ledger - October 6, 2008
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Hopper stars in Starz series Crash
Southern Ledger - October 6, 2008
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16 WORDS
August 9, 2004 -
August 15, 2004
They were just sixteen words. They were spoken by the President in the 2003 State of the Union Address. "The British government," he said, "has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."
In making his case for pre-emptive war against Iraq, the statement by President Bush was only a small portion of the rationale underlying the decision. The information indicated that Saddam Hussein was proceeding with efforts to develop nuclear weapons. After all, why else would he seek uranium? If you believe someone has a .357 magnum handgun, their attempt to purchase .357 magnum ammunition would usually be considered good evidence that your suspicion has merit.
The sixteen words created a firestorm of controversy when a former Ambassador, Joe Wilson, wrote an op-ed in the New York Times claiming that his brief investigation into the allegation that Hussein had sought yellowcake uranium from Niger revealed no evidence to back it up. As a result, Democrats were quick to leap on Wilson?s words as evidence that President Bush had lied to get us into war in Iraq. In fact, these 16 words have become the basis of the Democrats' repeated mantra that "Bush lied."
But now two non-partisan investigations of the issue, one by the British government the other by the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, reveal that the person who actually lied was Ambassador Joe Wilson - NOT President Bush.
The British report notes: "It is accepted by all parties that Iraqi officials visited Niger in 1999. The British government had intelligence from several different sources indicating that this visit was for the purpose of acquiring uranium. Since uranium constitutes almost three-quarters of Niger's exports, the intelligence was credible."
The Senate Intelligence Committee report says that the CIA instructed the White House that it could say: "[W]e also have intelligence that Iraq has sought large amounts of uranium and uranium oxide, known as yellowcake, from Africa." The Senate Report concludes that "no Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analysts or officials told the National Security Council (NSC) to remove the '16 words'" from the State of the Union address. The bi-partisan Committee also concluded that, despite Democrat conspiracy theories to the contrary, there was no evidence any Administration official "attempted to coerce, influence or pressure analysts to change their judgments related to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capabilities."
The credibility of the founder of the "Bush lied" craze took other major hits in the Senate Intelligence Committee report. It turns out that he was recommended for the investigative mission by his CIA-operative wife. He vigorously denied the fact that his wife got him the job during his numerous media interviews and book tour media frenzy. But written memos from his wife to others in the CIA reveal his lie in stark terms. In fact, the unanimous Senate Intelligence Committee report notes: "Interviews and documents provided to the Committee indicate that his wife suggested his name for the trip." So the Democrats have built their case for "Bush lied" on the shaky foundation of a man who lied about both how he was sent on the mission to Africa as well as what he found there.
There are many despicable aspects of this sordid episode: the red-faced rhetorical rage of those on the left who have falsely claimed for over a year that the 16 words were a lie; the apparently systemic failures in the intelligence community that can allow a man like Joe Wilson to be dispatched by his wife on a mission of such critical importance; and the fact that the mainstream media was so quick to promote the lies of Joe Wilson yet has been so utterly silent when it comes to correcting the misinformation they peddled as "truth."
But the most frightening aspect of this matter is the fact that the Democrat Party, the mainstream media, and many in our own intelligence community were so willing to be blind to the truth (or to purposely ignore it) in order to promote their own political agenda -- even when it meant putting our nation at risk. The fact that they continue to cover-up the truth about Joe Wilson and the truth in the President's "16 words" is shameful.
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FACTS AND FIGURES WILL UNDERCUT FUTURE INCOME TAX PUSH -
August 2, 2004 -
August 8, 2004
During the income tax wars in recent years the pro-tax crowd regularly pointed to Tennessee's revenue figures as evidence of the need for an income tax. Yet the same media outlets that so breathlessly reported the revenue "facts" to justify an income tax have suddenly gone silent as new numbers are released month after month that prove their arguments to have been nothing but hot air. The latest tax collection figures were released late last week and revealed that collections for May, 2004 were... |
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A TRUE HERO GIVES HIS ALL FOR HIS COUNTRY -
July 19, 2004 -
July 25, 2004
The words "hero" and "patriot" get bandied about a lot these days. Seldom are they applied to those who truly measure up to the words. Pat Tillman did not just measure up to those words, he defines them.
Two years ago Pat Tillman was a star football player for the NFL's Arizona Cardinals. In 2000 he had 224 tackles, a team record. He had a $3.6 million dollar contract. He had fame. He had a new wife and a community that revered him as a "hero" on the football field. He was a "celebrity... |
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WILL THE POLITICAL DOMINOES FALL? -
July 26, 2004 -
August 1, 2004
Many political analysts are concluding that Tennessee will not be competitive enough between Bush and Kery to place it amond the battleground states in the 2004 presidential race. Since Al Gore could not carry Tennessee in 2000 it is reasoned that a more liberal version from Massachusets will fare more poorly among the state's voters. And with no gubernatorial or senate elections to motivate voters, many politicians and pundits are beginning to look ahead to 2006 -- when Tennessee could see seve... |
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