Joe Scarborough
Iraq uranium flap: What did Congress know and when did they know it?
http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | The Bush-haters are at it again, manufacturing a new scandal, and praying to the political gods that this one sticks. It won't. If you want to know why, here's the Real Deal.
Democratic presidential wannabes and liberal journalists continue to dig for political gold, hoping to find that nugget that will prove to the world once and for all that liberating 40 million people from the cruel grip of Saddam Hussein was a bad thing for America to do.
Before the war, liberals complained that American troops would be slaughtered by Saddam's troops, that we were doomed. Even as American GI's stormed toward Baghdad, the New York Times was whining about Bush and Rummy's poor military plan. Then we heard of the quagmire that never came. Then, with victory clearly in America's grasp, liberal politicians and media types whined that Iraq was in chaos, and riots made Iraq more dangerous than it ever was under Saddam. But our men and women restored order so quickly, that even the Times' editors had to blush.
Ahh, but then America was sold a big fat lie by the Times, Peter Jennings and the liberal media regarding the 170,000 priceless artifacts lost in the Baghdad museum. This manufactured scandal rated four, count 'em four, opinion columns in the New York Times on one day. Joe Lieberman sits on the Armed Services Committee. John Kerry is on Foreign Relations Committee. Dennis Kucinich sits on the National Security subcommittee of Government Reform, Bob Graham is a ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Dick Gephardt led the House Democrats for years, and calls himself an "expert on foreign affairs." All had access to top-secret briefings anytime they wanted. Strangely enough, there were no retractions by the Times or ABC's Jennings when we all learned that only 27 museum pieces had been lost-instead of 170,000.
But the media seems to be shamelessly flacking for Democratic presidential candidates sniffing around Washington for a scandal. This motley crew bashed President Bush a few weeks ago, claiming that he built his war on WMDs that never existed. They backed down soon after, probably after being reminded that Saddam admitted to possessing such weapons just a few years back.
And now, Beltway insiders are buzzing about the latest manufactured scandal, involving his claim that Saddam was seeking nuke juice from Africa. The story is an old one, and the intelligence was bad. But the Democratic candidates casting stones were always privy to top-level intelligence briefings, and yet never raised a question about the intelligence they and the President received. They are, of course, now playing dumb and acting as if they were victims of the President's evil designs.
Joe Lieberman sits on the Armed Services Committee. John Kerry is on Foreign Relations Committee. Dennis Kucinich sits on the National Security subcommittee of Government Reform, Bob Graham is a ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Dick Gephardt led the House Democrats for years, and calls himself an "expert on foreign affairs." All had access to top-secret briefings anytime they wanted. Hey, I know, because I got these briefings in Congress all the time. If the President was misled, so were they. And since Congress has oversight responsibilities over our intelligence community, the real question the press needs to be asking tonight is, "What did Congress know and when did they know it?"
The Democrats hoping to replace the President can't answer that question with a straight face, and because of their own neglect, this latest Democratic dust-up will disappear as quickly as the 170,000 priceless artifacts taken from the Baghdad museum. Oh wait, I keep forgetting, the press lied to us about that one too.
Keep trying boys, it's going to be a long year.
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Former Congressman Joe Scarborough (R-Fla.) hosts “Scarborough Country,” 10 p.m. ET, weeknights on MSNBC. Comment by clicking here.
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