By ,
Published January 27, 2017
WMDs just won't go away. That is the subject of this evening's "Talking Points Memo."
We now know for sure that Saddam Hussein was bluffing. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq after 1996, even though U.S. and British intelligence agencies thought there were.
Now you can look at the situation in a number of ways: You can say the Bush administration blew it. You can say, as "The Washington Post" did today, that no president could have known for sure about WMDs with faulty intelligence on the table. Or you could say that before America goes to war in the future, it has to be a last resort. All of those points are valid, but this point is not.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERRY MCAULIFFE, DNC CHIEF: You said they had weapons of mass destruction. They don't have them. -- Why don't you guys admit the truth, you lied to the American public, and we can move forward and get out of Iraq?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We didn't lie.
MCAULIFFE: You're just not telling the truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
"They lied." Why does DNC chief Terry McAuliffe (search) continue to accuse President Bush of lying? Why? No fair-minded person could come to that conclusion. Every time I hear that that, it makes me want to vote for President Bush because McAuliffe is being so disingenuous.
You don't hear Kerry and Edwards calling President Bush a liar. So why is the head of the Democratic party doing so? "Talking Points" believes all Americans have a right to form conclusions about the bad intelligence on WMDs.
If you think it's Bush's fault, vote for Kerry. That's certainly legitimate. But to continue this lying business -- when we know the intelligence was faulty? That is the lowest.
Now tomorrow night in the debate, President Bush will have to explain the WMD report. Here's what he said today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Based on all the information we had to date, I believe we were right to take action. And America is safer today with Saddam Hussein in prison. The Duelfer report makes clear that much of the accumulated body of 12 years of intelligence, and that of our allies was wrong. And we must find out why and correct the flaws.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Again, Americans who believe President Bush did the right thing are going to vote for him. And those who don't will vote for Kerry. -- We don't need this lying business.
Remember, Senator Kerry is on the record as saying with the same intelligence Bush had, he might have done the same thing. -- But he would have done it smarter.
The problem for the people, is that nobody can know if removing Saddam at the expense of more than 1,000 American lives is worth it. That will only become apparent years down the road. Both Bush and Kerry have both pledged to stay the course in Iraq, but it is impossible to form a definite conclusion on how history will play this out.
And that's "The Memo."
The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day
It is our eighth birthday here at the Fox News Channel. And we thought you would like to see how we kicked the whole thing off back on October 7, 1996.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'REILLY: Hi, I'm Bill O'Reilly. Thank you for watching on our very first day. How did it happen? How did television news become so predictable and in some cases so boring? Well, there are many theories but the fact is that local and network news is basically a rehash of what most educated viewers already know. Few broadcasts take any chances these days and most are very politically correct. We're going to try to be different, stimulating and a bit daring but at the same time, responsible and fair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
I look like the "Man From U.N.C.L.E.". Do you remember that show? That's what I looked like! Ridiculous? Yes, it is. -- I am aging in dog years. -- That was a toupee back then.
https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/wmds-just-wont-go-away