Some Things Change Some Things Stay the Same

President Bush, 6 weeks before the invasion: “But Saddam Hussein is — he’s treated the demands of the world as a joke up to now, and it was his choice to make. He’s the person who gets to decide war and peace.”

Remember, it was the Weapons of Mass destruction. You know, mushroom clouds, that sort of thing.

10/16/02:

Either the Iraqi regime will give up its weapons of mass destruction, or, for the sake of peace, the United States will lead a global coalition to disarm that regime.

3/19/03:

My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger… …We have no ambition in Iraq, except to remove a threat and restore control of that country to its own people… …The people of the United States and our friends and allies will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of mass murder.

8/5/04:

Another lesson of September the 11th, I said if we see a threat, we must deal with it before it fully materializes. We saw a threat in Iraq. And let me tell you why; not only the intelligence say there was a threat there, but we remembered the history of the man… …He had used weapons of mass destruction. Remember that? He had used them on his own people. He had used them against countries in his neighborhood. He was a source of instability. He was a threat, and we saw him as a threat.

There were no weapons of mass destruction.

Then it was about spreading Democracy.

3/10/07:

I ask the Congress to consider the enclosed revisions to the FY 2007 Department of Defense supplemental request proposed in my FY 2008 Budget. This revised request would better align resources based on the assessment of military commanders to achieve the goal of establishing Iraq and Afghanistan as democratic and secure nations that are free of terrorism.

Then it was about removing Saddam from power.

3/19/07:

Four years ago today, coalition forces launched Operation Iraqi Freedom to remove Saddam Hussein from power. They did so to eliminate the threat his regime posed to the Middle East and to the world.

Check.

Then we were there because it is the central war on terror. Remember, fight them here so we don’t have to… whatever.

5/11/07:

The terrorists who have declared war on America have made Iraq the central front in that war. Osama Bin Laden and his lieutenants believe they can wear us down, break our will, force us out, and make Iraq a safe haven for terror. They see Iraq as the center of a new caliphate, from which they can stir extremism and violence throughout the region, and eventually carry out devastating attacks against the United States and others.The terrorists have stated these ambitions clearly, and they intend to pursue them with ferocity. The United States, also, has made a decision: As the prime target of a global terror campaign, we will take the fight to the enemy. We will not sit back and wait to be hit again.

Unfortunately, the War has made us less safe.

In July we found out we are trying to make sure terrorists don’t have a place to train.

7/20/07:

A free and stable Iraq is still in reach. It has the potential to transform the Middle East and bring us closer to the day when radical regimes are replaced by peaceful allies, when terrorists have fewer places to train and operate, and when moms and dads in the Arab world see a future of hope for their children.

Finally, we learned that it is just some sort of juvenile tough guy match with Iran.

Today:

“There would be nothing worse for world peace than if the Iranians believed that the United States did not have the will and commitment to help young democracies survive.”

President Bush, today, on Ahmadinijead: “In other words, it’s his choice, it’s not mine anymore. So I believe that’s the best way to achieve an objective.”

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