Debunking The Myths

There are many myths the Bush supporters have used to defend the Iraq debacle- ties to Al Qaeda, WMDs, etc. One of them is that what Bush & co. did was a simply an extension of the Clinton/Gore administration's policy toward Iraq, or that the 1998 Iraq Liberation Act was justification for invasion. This is simply a lie. President Clinton did not believe in preemptive war and never made a move to invade Iraq or any nation in that region. Yes, Iraq was an issue in 1998, but invasion wasn't an option. Believing this also requires ignoring that the '98 policy was largely influenced by the neocons who planned the '03 invasion, that former Vice President Gore was one of the most vocal opponents of the march to war in late 2002, and that the White House purposely ignored intelligence in the runup to war that debunked their case. In regards to the larger issue of the Iraq Liberation Act, the most succint debunking of this myth came on 'Hardball' tonight in Chris Matthew's interview with Connecticut Senate candidate Ned Lamont. Here's a transcript I typed up-

Matthews: "You've got Bill Clinton on your side, he's probably the most popular Democrat in the country. He said something the other day... he said Joe Lieberman is probably the only Democrat in the entire United States who would've supported going to war in Iraq even if we knew ahead of time there was no WMD. What do you think of the fact that Bill Clinton is taking sides on your behalf now?"

Lamont: "I don't think in a heartbeat that Bill Clinton would've invaded Iraq like George Bush did, aided by Joe Lieberman every step of the way. Frankly, I don't think George Herbert Walker Bush would've invaded Iraq that way. And I think President Clinton, I'm proud to have him on the side of this campaign, I think he's right about that. I think Sen. Lieberman has been egging the United States to invade Iraq ever since 1991. He was there in 1998 for the Iraq Liberation Act. And he still wants to stay the course. Now it's three and a half years later and we see what a bloody mess we're in right now."

Matthews: "Well, why did Bill Clinton sign the Iraq Liberation Act in '98?"

Lamont: "I don't think he was talking about an invasion. I think at that point he was talking about ways that we might be able to aid some groups within Iraq, hopefully to destabilize."

Matthews: "Correct answer, Mr. Lamont, because the Iraq Liberation Act said nothing about any military action by us against Iraq."

If any site posts video of this exchange, I'll update with a link.

UPDATE: Crooks and Liars now has video of this.