John Bolton: Bush never said Saddam was 'imminent threat'

danarhea · 03-26-07, 12:51 PM

Nothing like trying to rewrite history, is there. John Bolton is now making the claim that Bush never said Iraq was an imminent threat. In saying that Bush, and members of his administration, never said those words, Bolton is a flat out liar. But we have been used to lies from this administration for more than 5 years now. So what else is new?

Instances where "threat" was used:

Quote:

"There's no question that Iraq was a threat to the people of the United States."
• White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan, 8/26/03

"We ended the threat from Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction."
• President Bush, 7/17/03

Iraq was "the most dangerous threat of our time."
• White House spokesman Scott McClellan, 7/17/03

"Saddam Hussein is no longer a threat to the United States because we removed him, but he was a threat...He was a threat. He's not a threat now."
• President Bush, 7/2/03

"Absolutely."
• White House spokesman Ari Fleischer answering whether Iraq was an "imminent threat," 5/7/03

"We gave our word that the threat from Iraq would be ended."
• President Bush 4/24/03

"The threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction will be removed."
• Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, 3/25/03

"It is only a matter of time before the Iraqi regime is destroyed and its threat to the region and the world is ended."
• Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke, 3/22/03

"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."
• President Bush, 3/19/03

"The dictator of Iraq and his weapons of mass destruction are a threat to the security of free nations."
• President Bush, 3/16/03

"This is about imminent threat."
• White House spokesman Scott McClellan, 2/10/03

Iraq is "a serious threat to our country, to our friends and to our allies."
• Vice President Dick Cheney, 1/31/03

Iraq poses "terrible threats to the civilized world."
• Vice President Dick Cheney, 1/30/03

Iraq "threatens the United States of America."
• Vice President Cheney, 1/30/03

"Iraq poses a serious and mounting threat to our country. His regime has the design for a nuclear weapon, was working on several different methods of enriching uranium, and recently was discovered seeking significant quantities of uranium from Africa."
• Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, 1/29/03

"Well, of course he is.”
• White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett responding to the question “is Saddam an imminent threat to U.S. interests, either in that part of the world or to Americans right here at home?”, 1/26/03

"Saddam Hussein possesses chemical and biological weapons. Iraq poses a threat to the security of our people and to the stability of the world that is distinct from any other. It's a danger to its neighbors, to the United States, to the Middle East and to the international peace and stability. It's a danger we cannot ignore. Iraq and North Korea are both repressive dictatorships to be sure and both pose threats. But Iraq is unique. In both word and deed, Iraq has demonstrated that it is seeking the means to strike the United States and our friends and allies with weapons of mass destruction."
• Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, 1/20/03

"The Iraqi regime is a threat to any American. ... Iraq is a threat, a real threat."
• President Bush, 1/3/03

"The world is also uniting to answer the unique and urgent threat posed by Iraq whose dictator has already used weapons of mass destruction to kill thousands."
• President Bush, 11/23/02

"I would look you in the eye and I would say, go back before September 11 and ask yourself this question: Was the attack that took place on September 11 an imminent threat the month before or two months before or three months before or six months before? When did the attack on September 11 become an imminent threat? Now, transport yourself forward a year, two years or a week or a month...So the question is, when is it such an immediate threat that you must do something?"
• Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, 11/14/02

"Saddam Hussein is a threat to America."
• President Bush, 11/3/02

"I see a significant threat to the security of the United States in Iraq."
• President Bush, 11/1/02

"There is real threat, in my judgment, a real and dangerous threat to American in Iraq in the form of Saddam Hussein."
• President Bush, 10/28/02

"The Iraqi regime is a serious and growing threat to peace."
• President Bush, 10/16/02

"There are many dangers in the world, the threat from Iraq stands alone because it gathers the most serious dangers of our age in one place. Iraq could decide on any given day to provide a biological or chemical weapon to a terrorist group or individual terrorists."
• President Bush, 10/7/02

"The Iraqi regime is a threat of unique urgency."
• President Bush, 10/2/02

"There's a grave threat in Iraq. There just is."
• President Bush, 10/2/02

"This man poses a much graver threat than anybody could have possibly imagined."
• President Bush, 9/26/02

"No terrorist state poses a greater or more immediate threat to the security of our people and the stability of the world than the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq."
• Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, 9/19/02

"Some have argued that the nuclear threat from Iraq is not imminent - that Saddam is at least 5-7 years away from having nuclear weapons. I would not be so certain. And we should be just as concerned about the immediate threat from biological weapons. Iraq has these weapons."
• Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, 9/18/02

"Iraq is busy enhancing its capabilities in the field of chemical and biological agents, and they continue to pursue an aggressive nuclear weapons program. These are offensive weapons for the purpose of inflicting death on a massive scale, developed so that Saddam Hussein can hold the threat over the head of any one he chooses. What we must not do in the face of this mortal threat is to give in to wishful thinking or to willful blindness."
• Vice President Dick Cheney, 8/29/02

GySgt · 03-26-07, 12:59 PM

I don't see anywhere here that he said it was a threat.

danarhea · 03-26-07, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GySgt

I don't see anywhere here that he said it was a threat.

. Good one.

Stinger · 03-26-07, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GySgt

I don't see anywhere here that he said it was a threat.

It was not the position that Saddam and Iraq were imminent threats to the United States. Had that been the case, of course, there would not have been 14 months of debate and congressional approval for action would not have been necessary. That doesn't mean he was just a threat, just not an imminent, one. He was an eminent threat however. I would imagine some of the quotes bandied around may have the words confused.

aps · 03-26-07, 01:07 PM

It's amazing to me how stupid this administration must think the American people are. Although, what am I thinking? We voted Bush in for a second term. Maybe this adminsitration does have an understanding of how stupid the American people are.

Iriemon · 03-26-07, 01:09 PM

Bush himself never used the specific words "imminent threat" that I have found, as opposed to representatives of his administration.

But its just a strawman. Bush called Iraq an "urgent threat" and his words and those of his administration left no doubt that the attack on Iraq was immediately necessary because of the danger posed by Hussein's WMD.

Never mind the fact that he was supposed to have had these WMDs for 20 years and had never in that time used them for a terrorist attack nor is there any evidence he ever supplied such weapons to terrorists.

The Bush Admin and its neocon supporters have been trying to re-write history for 3 1/2 years now, since it was confirmed that the WMDs did not exist, to characterize the attack on Iraq as some sort of humintarian mission.

danarhea · 03-26-07, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stinger

It was not the position that Saddam and Iraq were imminent threats to the United States. Had that been the case, of course, there would not have been 14 months of debate and congressional approval for action would not have been necessary. That doesn't mean he was just a threat, just not an imminent, one. He was an eminent threat however. I would imagine some of the quotes bandied around may have the words confused.

"This is about imminent threat."
• White House spokesman Scott McClellan, 2/10/03

What's so confusing about that? Looks pretty straightforward to me, along with the date he said it.

niftydrifty · 03-26-07, 01:11 PM

"I think some in the media have chosen to use the word 'imminent.' Those were not words words we used. We used 'grave and gathering threat.'" - Scott McClellan, January 27, 2004

"We must adapt the concept of imminent threat to the capabilities and objectives of today’s adversaries. Rogue states and terrorists do not seek to attack us using conventional means. They know such attacks would fail. Instead, they rely on acts of terror and, potentially, the use of weapons of mass destruction—weapons that can be easily concealed, delivered covertly, and used without warning." -George W. Bush, June 1, 2002

niftydrifty · 03-26-07, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iriemon

Bush himself never used the specific words "imminent threat" that I have found, as opposed to representatives of his administration.

Iriemon is a liar, too! Liar!

Stinger · 03-26-07, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aps

It's amazing to me how stupid this administration must think the American people are. Although, what am I thinking? We voted Bush in for a second term. Maybe this adminsitration does have an understanding of how stupid the American people are.

What on earth do you baseless accusations about what the administration thinks have to do with anything here? And do you think insulting the entire American peoples somehow makes whatever case you are trying to make?

The administration was perfectly clear, we could not allow Saddam to BECOME an imminent threat. It was the same position that the Clinton administration took and what just about every member of congress stated when they voted for using military force, including the vast majority of Democrats.