Re-read this schedule of Bush's day on 9/11, and look at the times for when the planes were known to be hijacked (more). Then take a look at this map (more), showing that the planes flight path took them over multiple military bases. Feel free to ask yourself why no one bothered to do anything.
This article on the “history” of the Iraq war, as told using the words of Bush administration is pretty funny in a morbid sort of way (more). Here are some excerpts:
We were defending both ourselves and the safety and survival of civilization itself. It was a struggle between good and it was a struggle between evil.
Iraq possessed ballistic missiles with a likely range of hundreds of miles … and a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas. They were six months away from developing a [nuclear] weapon.
We waged a war to save civilization itself. It was entirely possible that in Iraq you had the most pro-American population that could be found anywhere in the Arab world. We had the overwhelming support of the Iraqi people. Once we won, we got great support from everywhere.
We do not leave behind occupying armies. The United States was not interested in the oil in that region. We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories. And we found more weapons as time went on.
It's weird seeing so many lies all in one place. And it's crazy — everyone that's not insanely ignorant knows they're lies, but they still keep getting told over and over. Bush even had the gall to say them at the UN (more, more). I can only assume the speech wasn't actually for the UN, but simply to provide quotes for FoxNEWS to play to the sheep (as they're lead to slaughter).
But don't worry — war's big business, so the lies must be worth it, right? After all, the US is the world's biggest arms dealer (more), having sold $13.3 billion worth last year. “Lucky” for 9/11 for them, as it upped their sales by over a billion dollars in the following year.
Hypothetical question time:
Would you kill a stranger for $300,000? What if you didn't have to do it yourself, if you just had to “OK” it by inaction?
If the answer is yes, then would you kill 3000 people for $1,200,000,000? That's how much profit the defense sector (one of the most powerful in the Bush administration) made internationally from the 9/11 attacks — and that doesn't include the many billions more made domestically.
If the answer is no, ask yourself what someone who already sells weapons and mercenary services (ie. money for killing) would answer.
At the start of the week Bush pushed through a bunch more legislation to make it easier for “faith based” groups to get cash grants (more), including Sun Myung Moon's anti-semitic (“the holocaust was God's revenge for killing Jesus”), homophobic (“dung-eating dogs”), and sexist (“[American women are] a line of prostitutes”) church. The funds specifically will be for “afterschool celibacy clubs” (more), and the promotion of boring sex after marriage (more). Continuing in the “stupid new laws” category, if you buy a Hummer H2 for $62,000, you will now be getting…. a $62,000 tax deduction! (more). If you're wondering why it just applies to the H2 and not other SUVs, it's because the H2 is so heavy that it's not even really considered an SUV any more…
Finally, as Amnesty International decries US treatment of POWs and others and accuses them of undermining international humanitarian law (more), the US clears its troops of any wrongdoing in the slaying of Iraqi police (more)… And chugging along in the background, Rumsfeld continues the slow process of destroying the US military (more). Want to see the result of his actions?
Say hello to Pfc. Alan Jermaine Lewis who says he's killed many Iraqis and has no complaints (“I love what I do. There's no other job like it. They give you guns.”). But not everyone is so happy about losing their legs (more, more), and even less people are thrilled about their kids getting killed (more).
