Mr Bush, how about some truth

Fear is a great motivator. Sometimes our own government has even lied to us to generate fear and get the populace to back an action that would otherwise not be supported.

President Lyndon Johnson lied to America to get the country to support a much heavier military involvement in Vietnam. The "Battle of Tonkin Gulf" was the sole basis of the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. The "battle" never actually happened. On the evening after the battle that didn't actually happen (August 4, 1964), President Johnson went on TV to ask the country to support a Congressional resolution. Two days later the Tonkin Gulf Resolution was approved. Over 50,000 Americans died in the Vietnam War. Years later we finally learned the truth.

Going back now to Pearl Harbor, some believe that President Franklin Roosevelt had prior knowledge of the attacks. I only recently heard this accusation (from various sources), and I have no idea if it's true. What concerns me, however, is that I would not be surprised if it were proven that FDR mislead America in order to bolster support for involvement in the Pacific in WWII.

The reason I would not be surprised is that we know that Johnson lied to us. We know that Nixon lied. There is evidence that FDR may have lied. And we now know that George W Bush lied about at least some aspects of the Iraq situation.

On the really scary end, I've seen articles and videos by folks claiming that the Bush Administration not only lied about the WMDs in Iraq (as we know now), and deliberately misled the country to try and get us to believe that Saddam was somehow connected to the attacks of Sept 11, 2001 ....but these folks also believe that the Bush group had prior knowledge of the attacks, and did nothing. Some go even further with their allegations. I'm not going to get into that here; you can go to Google and search on "911 coverup" or "911 conspiracy" and read all kinds of stuff. You can also check out the 911 In Plane Site video - previews and comments are at the linked site. I've purchased the video and it does raise a number of questions. I suggest trying to verify sources before believing everything. Remember that our government has lied to us in the past, the media has at best distorted some things in the past, and anyone can post anything on the Internet (including me, so do your own research!)

At this point we really don't know what the whole truth might be. But if al Qaeda was behind the 9/11 attacks, and if bin Laden was behind al Qaeda, and if bin Laden was in Afghanistan ...then why the heck did we suddenly shift the main focus to Iraq, where there was no tie to the 9/11 attacks, there were no WMDs, there was no bin Laden? Even if you want to buy the story that Saddam had to be removed because he was evil, why now all of a sudden? Why not finish the job in Afghanistan first? There is some logic missing here, and no matter how many times Bush, Cheney, et al, change their story it won't make sense until the truth is told.

By the way, as a great example of how the Bush Administration is trying to use September 11, 2001 to increase fear and get some support from the voting public, have a look and listen at this clip culled from the Republican convention.

Comments

[Boyd]

You're kidding, right? You really expect people to believe that 9/11 was staged or a government plot? Why don't you tell that to the family of my high school class president, who was killed working in one of the brokerages at the WTC? It's easy to babble about conspiracies for which there is not a shred of proof until you're directly, personally affected by REAL terrorist attacks, carried out by REAL Islamic fundamentalists who hate you and I simply because we're Americans and we're not hardcore Muslims. One of the main premises behind the ridiculous website you linked to is that the planes used in the WTC attacks were not commercial airliners; they were cargo or tanker planes. For the suggested scenario to be true, the evil Bush Administration would have to have magically made hundreds of people who were *supposedly* on four separate US Air and United Airlines flights die simultaneously and then spread out their DNA all over Washington DC and Manhattan. Quite plainly, if you believe that, you're an idiot.

[Joe Litton]

"Boyd" does not leave a full name, nor an email address. So here's a quick response ...The various consipiracy and coverup sites raise some issues that should be explored. Why did Bush oppose the creation of the 9/11 Commission? Why is there no evidence of wreckage at the Pentagon when one views images and film taken shortly after the attack? It is now accepted as fact that Johnson lied to America about the Gulf of Tonkin ...resulting in tens of thousands of deaths ...all to get us heavily involved in Vietnam. I am not saying Bush *did* the attacks ...I am saying his administration knew a lot more than they've told us, and we need to know why. If FDR knew about the Pearl Harbor attack and let it happen in order to garner support for WWII, is it possible that this administration had some prior knowledge of the 9/11 attacks, and did not do everything possible to prevent it? Just because a thought is horrible, that does not mean we should ignore it. I have family in Iraq right now, and I want to know the truth.

[Dr. Lavine]

'Boyd' is correct - only unquestioning faith in Our Leader is permitted.

We must believe in His Truth, and pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

[Cheryle]

"Boyd" sure has a short memory. During the Clinton administration, right-wingers elevated conspiracy "babble" to a new art form.

And besides, you never tried to pass this information off as fact. Your disclaimer was about as straightforward as it gets:

"I suggest trying to verify sources before believing everything. Remember that our government has lied to us in the past, the media has at best distorted some things in the past, and anyone can post anything on the Internet (including me, so do your own research!)"

What is it about right-wingers and their disdain for questioning things?

[Rob McDonagh]

Ah, no name or email address, but what's Boyd's IP address? Might our mystery visitor be a RattyCatty employee?

/just a little levity...