SHOCK AND AWE - TEN YEARS LATER

I will never forget my growing alarm as the war drums for invading Iraq beat louder and louder.

I will never forget my embarrassment at Colin Powell's speech at the UN.

I will never forget that the UN inspectors who asked for a couple of months more to continue the search for WMD, but were instead driven out of Iraq on the run, by the beginning of the Shock and Awe invasion.

I will never forget the pillaging of the ancient and priceless holdings of the museums and libraries in Iraq, because there was no plan to protect them.

I will never forget the outing of Valerie Plame as a CIA secret agent and the persecution of Plame and her husband, Joe Wilson, by the Bush administration because after his investigation, Wilson said that Niger did not sell uranium to Saddam.

I could go on and on with my list.  I began to lose a friend when I continued to suggest that there were no WMD in Iraq and that there was no connection between Saddam and al Qaeda.  I finally lost that friend on May 1, 2003, when I mocked George W Bush's "Mission Accomplished" moment.

How could I, way down in the swamps of Louisiana, know that the chances of finding WMD in Iraq were slim to none, and the members of Congress not know, especially the Democrats who voted for the war?  How could I know that Cheney/Bush were lying, and the members of Congress not know?

How could the major media outlets fail so miserably in their responsibility to inform us of the truth in the run-up to war?  A small number of journalists expressed doubt about WMD, but few paid attention.  As my friend Doug, to whom I owe credit for the video, said on Facebook, "Shocking and awful."   

Image from Wikipedia.

A CERTAIN JUSTICE

Stolen from Padre Mickey. I don't know who did the shop job, but, if I find out, I will give credit.

As I said at Padre Mickey's:

"Mission Accomplished" was surely one of Bush's most embarrassing moments. As others, especially the press, fawned over Bush in his flight suit, I laughed. It was one of the most ridiculous performances I had ever seen. (Lightly edited)

I was wrong to laugh. It wasn't and isn't funny to the service members and civilians who have been killed or maimed since Bush's day of "triumph", nor is it funny to their loved ones. The wars go on, so the picture isn't true today, either. Still, I see a certain justice in the photoshop.

UPDATE: Image from BartCop.