Abramoff Knew War Was Coming In March 2002; Rest of America Played Dumb

As if we needed more evidence that the administration was lying throughout 2002 when it denied that they were planning for war with Iraq and only wanted the congressional resolution as a diplomatic tool (Downing Street What?), here's another odd piece to add to the puzzle. In March of 2002 (a year before the war began), Jack Abramoff sent the following email in regards to a discussion he had with close confidante Karl Rove:

From: Jack Abramoff
To: 'octagon1'
Monday, March 18, 2002 8:31 AM
Subject: RE: Sunday

I was sitting yesterday with Karl Rove, Bush's top advisor, at the NCAA basketball game, discussing Israel when this email came in. I showed it to him. It seems that the President was very sad to have to come out negatively regarding Israel, but that they needed to mollify the Arabs for the upcoming war on Iraq. That did not seem to work anyway. Bush seems to love Sharon and Israel, and thinks Arabfat [sic], is nothing but a liar. I thought I'd pass that on.

So even Jack Abramoff knew from the White House in March of 2002 that we were going to war. And yet our own 'liberal media' continued to stumble across cluelessly, failing to see the 100-ton elephant stomping around the room, or to ask the tough questions of an administration working so hard to slowly market an upcoming product.

Bush cultists (like neocon 'journalist' John Podhoretz) now try the revisionist spin that we all knew the White House was preparing for war. But that's not the White House said.

President Bush told reporters on September 19th of 2002, as he rushed the force resolution to the Congress, that said resolution wasn't about war, but about diplomacy. He said: "That will be part of the resolution, the authorization to use force. If you want to keep the peace, you've got to have the authorization to use force. This is a chance for Congress to indicate support. It's a chance for Congress to say 'We support the administration's ability to keep the peace.' That's what this is all about." Comments by Senators voting 'yes' indicated that they believed that was the bill's intent.

And as late as December 31, 2002, President Bush told reporters, indignant at one's suggestion that war was coming soon, that "You said we're headed to war in Iraq -- I don't know why you say that. I hope we're not headed to war in Iraq. I'm the person who gets to decide, not you. I hope this can be done peacefully."

President Bush would later tell reporters on March 21st of this year that "I didn't want war. To assume I wanted war is just flat wrong ... with all due respect."

In my world, we call these 'lies'.