Fox’s Martha MacCallum has developed a serious case of Iraq amnesia. Gone is George W. Bush’s invasion of the country under false pretenses, the declaration that it would improve the safety and stability of the world and, of course, “Mission Accomplished.” Now, the current crisis in Iraq is President Obama’s fault – apparently for not being more like Bush.
At the beginning of an interview today with Bush’s chief of staff, Andy Card, MacCallum announced, “In 2007, President George W. Bush pretty much laid this out as it is happening.”
She played a clip of Bush warning of consequences if troops were withdrawn from Iraq too soon.
“Wow,” MacCallum said admiringly.
Yes, wow, indeed. From Raw Story:
As London School of Economics and Political Science professor Fawaz Gerges recently pointed out, “hundreds, if not thousands, of skilled officers of Saddam Hussein’s … joined ISIS” after the Bush administration decided to break up Iraq’s military.
And at no time during the segment did MacCallum or Card mention that it was President Bush who signed the status of forces agreement in 2008 that said all U.S. troops would be withdrawn from Iraq by 2012.
Card, of course, mostly echoed MacCallum’s sentiments. “This is a very troubling scenario right now. Yes, President Bush did anticipate this being a likely outcome if we didn’t do some things right, and President Obama and his team has not done some things right. The lack of a status of forces agreement is paramount to the cause of this angst right now. And I’m troubled by it.”
MacCallum added, “You know, when you look back at pretty much everything that President Bush outlined in that statement, that there would be extreme violence, well, we’ve seen that now… you see this vacuum of leadership and I wonder what your thoughts are …I know President Bush was so, was very involved in talking to generals on the ground, talking to the military on the ground. And when I look back at even the Rolling Stone article that got General McChrystal fired – he was referring, really, to Afghanistan – but what he complained about in this administration was just their lack of interest in the whole situation.”
Fox News is using a terrible and dangerous situation in Iraq not to draw the country together to deal with the crisis but to divide it further - by using President Obama as a scapegoat and rehabbing the George W. Bush administration’s awful record on Iraq– all in the name of promoting its political agenda.
Watch this shameful display of propaganda below.
(4/4/18 update: video no longer available)
That was some pretty mighty projection on your part, methinks.
If our President had actually followed Dumbya’s “for-us-or-against us” cowboy diplomacy, we would have US troops fighting and dying in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Egypt, Libya and Iran.
And the MILITARY DRAFT would have been reinstated by now —GUARANTEED!
If you’re that worried about Iraq and Afghanistan, HOW ABOUT YOU ENLISTING OR SENDING YOUR MILITARY AGED LOVED ONES OVER THERE? I’m sure the line at your local armed forces recruiting center is not long. It’s time for you and your fellow neocon reichwing chickenhawks to PUT UP OR SHUT THE F**K UP!!
’Nuff said.
You right-wingers have blamed Obama for letting this country’s deficit run wild (even though he’s actually brought back into some semblance of check)—a deficit that started under Dubya and the rest of the war-criminal cabal (it certainly was NOT helped by Dubya’s tax “rebates” in 2001 which helped turn the surplus Clinton left into a massive deficit, especially as the country had to start spending massive amounts for the war against the Taliban and then the war against Iraq while Dubya insisted on cutting taxes—especially for the wealthy—that would’ve brought in the necessary revenue to pay for their little wars).
That’s plumb silly if only because the USA doesn’t have that sort of manpower. RWingers (like you seem to be) are not strong on logic, being capable of wanting both isolation (“not our problem”) and engagement (“teach’em a lesson”) in the same sentence.
Anyhow, the focus of Bush et al on Iraq was wilfully mistaken in that it was NOT motivated by anything linked to 9/11. As Bigtoe reminded you, there were NO IRAQI involved in 9/11, none, zero, zilch, not even a drop of Iraqi blood in their veins.
Most of the perps were Saudi but it seems that the wealthier among them were assisted in getting to safety outside the country. IOW, while the country’s airspace was on a full lockdown little private planes were flitting here and there picking up influential (wealthy) Saudi in order to take them to safety.
Golly, gee. Whuddathunk that money could be more important than national security?
