I've commented on the "it's not MY fault" nature of the Bush Presidency, but this one takes it.
Last week, David Kay, Bush's top weapons inspector in Iraq, resigned. On Sunday, Kay issued a statement blaming US Intelligence Agencies, stating that it was their consensus on the threat posed by Iraq that led Bush to conclude that an invasion was justified. Then, in a spectacular example of toadying to the President's "don't blame me" policy, went on to say "I actually think the intelligence community owes the president rather than the president owing the American people."
Now, let's ignore for the moment the rampant speculation that's been circulating that Bush & Company knew full well that such weapons were a long shot and that they were simply looking for justification for actions they wanted to take (allegations most recently made in Ron Suskind's The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O'Neill). I, of course, have no problem believing these allegations since I've assumed since the beginning that our invasion of Iraq had nothing to do with WMD's, 9/11, freedom for the Iraqi people or any of the other justifications the Bush team have used for the war. But that's a different discussion.
But once again we've got an administration official telling the world "don't blame the President. It's not HIS fault!" But isn't a leader supposed to take responsibility for his decisions? If he doesn't owe the American people an explanation, who does? The intelligence community? They're not the one's making the decision to go to war. That's the President and frankly, it IS his responsibility and, if the information is wrong, it's HIS responsibility to own up to it and accept at least some small portion of the blame. (Of course, that's NOT happening: Bush Claims to Never Say Iraq Was "Imminent Threat". But then, that's not really a surprise, is it?)
(And yes, before I get blasted by the less-liberal leaning among you, I am WELL aware that the above quoted site is hardly an unbiased source. But it does put a lot of info all in one place.)
Last week, David Kay, Bush's top weapons inspector in Iraq, resigned. On Sunday, Kay issued a statement blaming US Intelligence Agencies, stating that it was their consensus on the threat posed by Iraq that led Bush to conclude that an invasion was justified. Then, in a spectacular example of toadying to the President's "don't blame me" policy, went on to say "I actually think the intelligence community owes the president rather than the president owing the American people."
Now, let's ignore for the moment the rampant speculation that's been circulating that Bush & Company knew full well that such weapons were a long shot and that they were simply looking for justification for actions they wanted to take (allegations most recently made in Ron Suskind's The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O'Neill). I, of course, have no problem believing these allegations since I've assumed since the beginning that our invasion of Iraq had nothing to do with WMD's, 9/11, freedom for the Iraqi people or any of the other justifications the Bush team have used for the war. But that's a different discussion.
But once again we've got an administration official telling the world "don't blame the President. It's not HIS fault!" But isn't a leader supposed to take responsibility for his decisions? If he doesn't owe the American people an explanation, who does? The intelligence community? They're not the one's making the decision to go to war. That's the President and frankly, it IS his responsibility and, if the information is wrong, it's HIS responsibility to own up to it and accept at least some small portion of the blame. (Of course, that's NOT happening: Bush Claims to Never Say Iraq Was "Imminent Threat". But then, that's not really a surprise, is it?)
(And yes, before I get blasted by the less-liberal leaning among you, I am WELL aware that the above quoted site is hardly an unbiased source. But it does put a lot of info all in one place.)
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