Did Bush lie about WMD in Iraq?

[they don't love you like i love you]

I'm honestly kind of shocked there are still people today who dispute this.

Yes (D)

[Randy Bobandy]

How is this even an actual question?

Obviously (I/O)

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

No, but he may have been lied to by those around him.

[SWE]

Undoubtedly

[Franzl]

I'm not sure Dubya himself lied, as in, knowingly said something that was false. I think there's a good chance he was brainwashed by Cheney, Rumsfeld and co. and was just their puppet.

[TNF]

Yes (I/O)

The man should be rotting in jail for the rest of his natural life for war crimes.

[MurrayBannerman]

I'm in the Bush didn't directly know club.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I'm not sure Dubya himself lied, as in, knowingly said something that was false. I think there's a good chance he was brainwashed by Cheney, Rumsfeld and co. and was just their puppet.

Yeah that's where I'm at.

[DINGO Joe]

I'm not sure Dubya himself lied, as in, knowingly said something that was false. I think there's a good chance he was brainwashed by Cheney, Rumsfeld and co. and was just their puppet.

brainwashed?  Bush was just stupid and arrogant.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Bush was told it was a "slam dunk."  The national security state can be spectacularly wrong about things sometimes. Even Saddam may have believed he had WMDs. 

[The Dowager Mod]

Bush was just a well meaning idiot misled by Cheney and Rumsfeld.

[Marnetmar]

Bush was just a well meaning idiot misled by Cheney and Rumsfeld.

[DemPGH]

By default, absolutely. I mean, you can't really call it anything else. Now, what Bush and Dick thought the odds really were that Saddam had actual WMDs we can't say, but Bush clearly wanted any reason he could get to go, and that was surely the best one.

[TDAS04]

By default, absolutely. I mean, you can't really call it anything else. Now, what Bush and Dick thought the odds really were that Saddam had actual WMDs we can't say, but Bush clearly wanted any reason he could get to go, and that was surely the best one.

This.

[angus]

I assume that these are the statements under consideration:

United Nations Address, Sept. 12, 2002 -  "Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons."

State of the Union Address, Jan. 28, 2003 -  "Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent."


I don't know.  I voted no.  Call it "the benefit of doubt" or something like that.  Obviously, since a thorough search for WMD has failed to yield any fruit, we are left to conclude that either something was seriously wrong within the Bush White House's national security ops or that Bush deliberate misled the people into supporting an invasion.  For the purpose of this poll, I'll go with the former.  I really don't know which it was.  Doesn't matter much now.  Bush is an old man with no executive authority and all that money and blood lost in Iraq won't be won back by labeling him a liar.

[Gass3268]

Of course he lied, it was always about oil.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Of course he lied, it was always about oil.

What oil?

[anvi]

At the very least, he agreed to make a case to the public and then made the call for war on the basis of evidence that even he told Tenant to his face he found weak. That's not knowing nothing, that's a very bad call.  It may have been motivated by a geopolitical scheme Cheney and Wolfowitz and company sold him on after 9/11 more than the flimsy "evidence" on offer.  But it was still an extremely bad call.

[NewYorkExpress]

Even if Bush was lying (Which he was, day and night) one must point out the definition of "WMD" is pretty damn vague. You could argue that a Kalishkanov, or a Tommy gun is a WMD as much as a Nuclear Warhead or Sarin gas is.

Also Saddam probably deserved to be overthrown, just not using our troops... what we should have done instead was "encouraged" the Saudis and Iranians to invade Iraq instead of doing it ourselves

[Link]

Also Saddam probably deserved to be overthrown...

The aftermath of the Iraq war told us unequivocally that Sadaam should not have been overthrown.  Sadaam was the glue that held that place together.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Also Saddam probably deserved to be overthrown...

The aftermath of the Iraq war told us unequivocally that Sadaam should not have been overthrown.  Sadaam was the glue that held that place together.

The Iranians weren't sad to see him go. 

[pbrower2a]

Beyond any question -- he either knew or made reckless statements with callow disregard for their truth.

[Link]

Also Saddam probably deserved to be overthrown...

The aftermath of the Iraq war told us unequivocally that Sadaam should not have been overthrown.  Sadaam was the glue that held that place together.

The Iranians weren't sad to see him go. 

No.  They seemed quite happy for whatever reason.

[Mordecai]

Depends on what you mean by WMD, since that includes chemical and biological weapons and there was strong evidence that Saddam had those. I don't think President Bush knowingly deceived people about Saddam possessing WMD.

No, but he may have been lied to by those around him.

I'm more inclined to believe this (or that he was mislead). Foreign policy was obviously not his strong suit and he himself has said that he had a decentralized management style so the Vice President and the Secretary of Defense would have had a better idea of what was going on with Iraq.

Bush was told it was a "slam dunk."  The national security state can be spectacularly wrong about things sometimes. Even Saddam may have believed he had WMDs.

Saddam also lied to his own generals about possessing WMD, which was not unbelievable because he had used chemical weapons before.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Also Saddam probably deserved to be overthrown...

The aftermath of the Iraq war told us unequivocally that Sadaam should not have been overthrown.  Sadaam was the glue that held that place together.

The Iranians weren't sad to see him go. 

No.  They seemed quite happy for whatever reason.

Because he would poke a stick in their eye everytime they raised a fuss.......his only redeeming quality was the Iranians couldn't trust him and they were, in some respects, fearful of him.