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Iraq WMD Lies Debuted in 2000 GOP Platform

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by Kelly Ann Kelly

If any more proof of BushCo's pre-9/11 obsession with Iraq is required, you need look no further than the RNC's own website. Long before the terrorist attacks on the WTC and Pentagon, even before the 2000 election, the Republicans were claiming that Iraq had renewed its weapons programs. Here is an excerpt from the 2000 Republican Party Platform, under the section titled "Principled American Leadership":

"A new Republican president will renew America’s faltering fight against the contagious spread of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, as well as their means of delivery. The weak leadership and neglect of the administration have allowed America’s intelligence capabilities, including space based systems, to atrophy, resulting in repeated proliferation surprises such as Iraq’s renewed chemical and biological weapons programs, India’s nuclear weapon test, and North Korea’s test of a three-stage ballistic missile. Again in a partnership with the Congress, a new Republican administration will give the intelligence community the leadership, resources, and operational latitude it requires."
(Link: http://www.gop.com/About/PartyPlatform/Default.aspx)

I recommend reading the whole Republican Party Platform. Some parts of the platform are laughable for their hypocrisy, such as:

*"Sending our military on vague, aimless, and endless missions rapidly saps morale. Even the highest morale is eventually undermined by back-to-back deployments, poor pay, shortages of spare parts and equipment, inadequate training, and rapidly declining readiness."

*"A comprehensive strategy for combating the new dangers posed by weapons of mass destruction must include a variety of other measures to contain and prevent the spread of such weapons. We need the cooperation of friends and allies."

*"Nor should the intelligence community be made the scapegoat for political misjudgments."

Other parts chillingly reveal the administration's true intentions:

*"A Republican president and a Republican Congress will transform America’s defense capabilities for the information age, ensuring that U.S. armed forces remain paramount against emerging dangers. They will restore the health of a defense industry weakened by a combination of neglect and misguided policies."

*The U.S. military under the leadership of a Republican President and a Republican Congress will focus on its most demanding task — fighting and winning in combat.

One topic, however, is noticeably absent; there is no mention of al Qaeda or Osama Bin Laden in the platform's section on terrorism.

In contrast, the 2000 Democratic Party Platform mentions Bin Laden by name: "Battling Terrorism. Whether terrorism is sponsored by a foreign nation or inspired by a single fanatic individual, such as Osama Bin Laden, Forward Engagement requires trying to disrupt terrorist networks, even before they are ready to attack."
(Link: http://www.democrats.org/about/2000platform.html)

The GOP Platform concludes with this frightening promise: "A Republican president and a Republican Congress can achieve the unity of national governance that has so long been absent." Of course, now we all know what they meant by that: Fascist one-party hegemony!

Kelly Ann Kelly
Fayetteville, New York

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION