Eleven years ago this month President Bush ordered the war and occupation of Iraq over WMD that did not exist. MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on her show of 3/6/14 reported "why we did it" and said it was because of IRAQI OIL. Maddow's show did a good job presenting the facts but like that time during the run up to war, the news media failed the country and its people by not challenging the administration's rhetoric concerning Iraq's so called WMD. There was very little investigation by the news media because they let themselves be intimated by the President and Dick Cheney.
There was a disconnect with the story when Maddow reported correctly that past Presidents said they would use our military to keep the shipping lanes open if nations of the middle east tried to cut off the supply of oil. Maddow failed to point out there was no threat present to cut off the shipping lanes of oil by Saddam. There was no shortage of oil in the market at the time either so Bush could not hide behind those previous statements by our former Presidents.
The Gulf War of 1991 proved Saddam was no threat to the U.S. I wrote a two part commentary titled, THE ROSETTA STONE TO THE IRAQ WAR dated 12/8 and 12/11/07 where I wrote that President Bush knew Iraq had no WMD and I listed the reasons why he knew. I also wrote a commentary titled, THE REPUBLICANS TRADE MARK: HIGH OIL AND GAS PRICES dated 5/16/08 that pointed out that under the George W. Bush administration the price of a barrel of oil increased on a steady basis through out his administration at the highest sustained cost than in the previous 20 years and that continues today. Bush and Cheney were OIL MEN. Oil is a precious commodity for the economy and who ever controls the reserves and production, also controls the price, even by manipulation.
The real story of the Iraq war over WMD that did not exist has never been told by the news media. The real story is that over 4400 Americans who wore the uniform of their country loss their lives in an unnecessary war and occupation and over 30,000 wounded, many who will never walk again with out assistance paid the ultimate price. Our men and women in uniform go where they are told to go by the Commander in Chief. They go with out complaint, do their jobs well and serve their country proudly. They deserve better.
And to think that President Bush and those in his administration who clamored for war in Iraq are still in denial with the self serving statement that they did the right thing. What a shame.
This commentary written by John Lucia.
