Do me a favor read and this…
The United States has intelligence that Iran is working to adapt missiles to deliver a nuclear weapon, further evidence that the Islamic republic is determined to acquire a nuclear bomb, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said Wednesday.
Separately, an Iranian opposition exile group charged in Paris that Iran is enriching uranium at a secret military facility unknown to U.N. weapons inspectors. Iran has denied seeking to build nuclear weapons.
…and then replace every reference to Iran in 2004 with Iraq in 2002. We’ve got Powell pointing to intelligence, an alleged nuclear program, an exile group, and an official denial from the country in question. It’s like we’re stuck in Groundhog Day, isn’t it?
The problems in Iraq obviously include the tragic deaths, exorbitant financial costs, an intractable conflict that could go on indefinitely, widespread disgust with the U.S. throughout the Middle East, and fractured relations with our one-time allies. And then there’s that other problem — our trustworthiness when it comes to potential threats is completely shot.
It’s almost comedic at this point. The Bush administration wants us to believe them when they say a long-time Middle East adversary is developing the most serious of all weapons of mass destruction. Never mind about before, he means it this time. Americans — and people around the world — should believe the administration because… well, because Bush would really like us to.
I guess in Bush’s fantastical reality, his credibility on potential U.S. threats isn’t irretrievably broken.
Is what Powell said about Iran’s nuclear program true? I haven’t the foggiest idea. But I do know that no one can reasonably trust the Bush administration’s word anymore about our enemies and the potential threats that they represent.
In all sincerity, I don’t see how Bush fixes this dilemma. He misled the world and launched a war under false pretenses. What’s worse, Bush now pretends none of that happened. Indeed, the president shows absolutely no regret or remorse for his catastrophic mistakes.
So then another potential crisis arises and Bush administration officials want everyone to take them at their word about the seriousness of the threat. But we can’t. This is the essence of a crisis in American leadership — when the world can no longer rely on the president’s assessment of potential threats, the president is incapable of leading.
As Bush himself once said, “Fool me once, shame on, shame on…”