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"Mythic Reality": Leading a Nation to War
How did the United States government lead the nation to war against Iraq? In "Leading to War: See Where The Truth Lies", a film and website that chronicle the path to war in Iraq,
The Bush administration developed and promoted a “mythic reality” to help persuade the American people to support an invasion of Iraq. The New York Times reported that a senior Bush adviser belittled the “reality-based community,” asserting that “we’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality.”
The Bush administration’s mythic reality declared:
Saddam Hussein is a growing threat who needs to be dealt with urgently. He is evil and he intends to do us grave harm. He has weapons of mass destruction and is building more. He has ties to al-Qaeda and could provide them, or other terrorist organizations, with weapons of mass destruction. He may have been connected with the 9/11 attacks. The United States is in danger.
There are no viable options aside from war, or Hussein’s abandoning power under imminent threat of war. Inspections can’t work. Containment can’t work. Diplomacy can’t work.
War is our last option. The choice to go to war rests in the hands of Saddam Hussein.
If the United States is forced to go to war, the outcome will be bright. The war will not be difficult since Iraq's military capacity is degraded from the Persian Gulf War and 10 years of sanctions. The war will be inexpensive, and the reconstruction costs will be largely paid from Iraqi oil revenues. We will be treated as liberators by the Iraqi people. The war will result in the spread of peace and freedom.
The actual reality is quite different.
July 28, 2008 at 06:59 pm by Rhonda J Mangus, 420 views, 27 comments
Crowd Power
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Rhonda J Mangus
North Tonawanda, New York, United States





Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (27)
at 19:21 on July 28th, 2008
Rhonda J Mangus, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 19:29 on July 28th, 2008
Hi Luiz! Thank you for the Flag!
at 19:30 on July 28th, 2008
Hi Rhonda, You are welcome!
at 19:47 on July 28th, 2008
Hi zichi, thank you for the Flag!
at 21:57 on July 28th, 2008
Rhonda J Mangus, I like this story. It's good stuff. I think in our part of the world we have known about this myth all along.
at 03:48 on July 29th, 2008
Hi rumana! Thank you for your comments and the Flag. It's an interesting "myth", and one that I think can be better understood from a distance. The evidence is compelling. Thanks again!
at 22:48 on July 28th, 2008
Rhonda J Mangus, I like this story. It's good stuff.
Great story! I like that -- "mystic reality." My grandma had a simpler word for it.
Mary
at 03:49 on July 29th, 2008
Mary, thank you for your comments and the Flag!
at 22:54 on July 28th, 2008
Rhonda J Mangus, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 03:50 on July 29th, 2008
Thank you, Barry!
at 23:38 on July 28th, 2008
Rhonda J Mangus, I like this story. It's good stuff.
That about sums it up! ...and so many 'sensible' Americans kept repeating this, over and over. So sad!
at 04:02 on July 29th, 2008
Hi Maireid! Thank you for your comments and the Flag! It is, unfortunately, a way of thinking that until examined will repeat "...this, over and over."
at 00:21 on July 29th, 2008
Rhonda J Mangus, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 04:02 on July 29th, 2008
Thank you, mchawk!
at 00:30 on July 29th, 2008
Rhonda J Mangus, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 04:03 on July 29th, 2008
Thank you, Caoimhin1!
at 04:17 on July 29th, 2008
You're welcome Rhonda! :)
at 05:49 on July 29th, 2008
I remember the Democrats agreed and voted for the war until the political advantage of a Bush and American loss turned them into the party of defeat. So Saddam was not a threat? Saddam was a threat was a myth? Maybe some people should read the speeches the Dems gave before voting to authorize military action. Do they think they can send our soldiers into battle to later come up with lame excuses to get them out of thier votes? Democrats have shown what spineless whiners they are by not supporting the troops during battle. America has not had a terrorist attack since we have been on offense. Let us see how well Obama does treating the terrorists like disadvantaged children. That is 7 years without a terrorist attack on Americans. I will take that record no matter how many people prefer we treat terrorist like juveniles who just need some after school projects to take thier minds off of jihad...The terrorist can not wait till Obama becomes POTUS so they can feel free to attack Americans again just like when Clinton was in office and let the terrorists rule Afghanistan and plan 9/11 right under his nose..These same Dems would have been against a preemptive strike against Afghanistan which would have prevented 9/11. Many of the planners had free rein in Iraq. Grown up Americans were not going to take that chance with Saddam. And Thank God they didn't. Where is Saddam now? We did the world a favor and they spit on us. So be it..Eventually we will have to do the same in Iran.
at 05:58 on July 29th, 2008
mpress, thank you for your comments. I would like to remind you that, previous to 9/11, the worst "terrorist attack" on United States soil happened on April 19, 1995, and was master-minded by AMERICAN Timothy McVeigh, who lived minutes from me. Consequently, it would be approximately 6 years before another alleged "terrorist attack" on US soil, now attributed to "al-Qaeda terrorists", an excuse for executing (by hanging) Saddam Hussein, a war with Afghanistan and Iraq, and implementing a direct course to strip Americans of their civil liberties under the guise of a "war on terror". The material put forth here is compelling evidence that the United States government mislead the people, and scores of people have died ,and have been stripped of their civil (and human) liberties, as a result of it. Always interesting, thank you again for your comments!
at 06:17 on July 29th, 2008
Thanks Rhonda I disagree I don't think American civil liberties have been stripped. If Obama becomes POTUS we will see if he uses the same tools the US is using against terrorists that has kept us safe in America for 7 years. I don't think their has ever been a war where scores of people haven't died that is why it is called a war and America is at war whether we agree with it or not. We are not pulling out of Iraq even if the Messiah becomes POTUS.
at 19:31 on July 29th, 2008
You are welcome, mpress. If you don't think that American Civil Liberties have been stripped, I suggest that you at least review FISA, which will also tell you whether or not Senator Obama will use "the same tools [you believe] the US is using against terrorists that has kept us safe in America for 7 years." Personally, I hope not. The American people are no safer now with "Homeland Security" than they were 6 years previous without it. The American people are living under a President who has a war mentality. He has admitted that he is a "war president"; that all he has on his mind is war. For me, this is a dangerous mind. War equals money for a nation and America is a nation that relies on war for it. I don't know that war can be called "war" solely because scores of people have died. However, if you review LeadingToWar in its entirety (and watch the documentary), among other things, you will learn that the Iraq war has caused more than 100,000 civilian and military deaths, millions of Iraqi's have been displaced from their homes, nearly 2,000,000 have fled the country, and untold numbers have been physically and mentally wounded. For what? Lies? Always a pleasure mpress, thank you again for your comments.
at 06:47 on July 29th, 2008
Rhonda J Mangus, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 19:31 on July 29th, 2008
Paschen, thank you!
at 07:40 on July 29th, 2008
Unfortunately the world of international politics is, at the very least, a game of poker. You never under any circumstances show your full hand if you want to win (or just stay at the table). Sometimes you have to bluff, and no one likes to have their bluff called.
The intricacies of the policies which come out of the white house or any other government are truly beyond most of the average person of the worlds understanding. This is not your neighborhood group being governed. It is a tangled skein of relationships that make your typical teenage drama look armature.
If they spoke plainly and truthfully like we all wish they would from time to time, there would be so much nit picking and bitter outburst and fires to put out, that nothing would ever get done. So it is light up for smoke and point the mirrors.
at 19:47 on July 29th, 2008
Thank you for your comments World_Groove!
at 07:25 on July 29th, 2008
I am sorry for this, and I apologize in advance, but sometimes the truth just s---s ...
When the world found out that American cars, even though wonderful when you drove them out of the showroom, and, if you were lucky even provided trouble-free service for a few years after that, when they finally learned, in terms of their own pocketbooks that when their American cars had long since turned to junk, their neighbor's Hondas and Toyotas and Audis and Mercedes and on and on were still humming away ... they just stopped buying!
Since I am basically a poor man now, I drive a 13-year old Camray ... I have owned it since it was brand new. I can tell you something - it has no rattles ! The windshield is cracked because I don't want to spend the money to get it fixed, and the new exhaust system those criminals at <redacted> put in 18 months ago for US$ 600 produces a ton of vibration more than the original parts they replaced ... oh, boy ... there I go ...
Since nobody outside America wants to buy any of our products any more, what choice did Bush have, but to export the only thing left that America does well anymore -- war ?
I'm not saying they didn't lie to us, or that they are not a all a pack of low-life criminals. I am not saying that at all ...
All I am saying is that sometimes the truth just s--ks ...
at 19:50 on July 29th, 2008
Hi Emilio! Thank you for your comments and the Flag!