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Skriven 2006-10-14 23:31:18 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0610143) for Sat, 2006 Oct 14
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Setting the Record Straight
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For Immediate Release
October 14, 2006

Setting the Record Straight



The Associated Press' Iraq Analysis

The Associated Press Claims "President Bush Keeps Revising His Explanation
For Why The U.S. Is In Iraq, Moving From Narrow Military Objectives At
First To History-Of-Civilization Stakes Now." "When no weapons of mass
destruction were found in Iraq, Bush shifted his war justification to one
of liberating Iraqis from a brutal ruler. After Saddam's capture in
December 2003, the rationale became helping to spread democracy through the
Middle East." (Tom Raum, "Bush Keeps Revising War Justification," The
Associated Press, 10/14/06)
  þ President Bush Has Consistently Pointed To Liberating Iraqis From A
    Brutal Ruler, Including Before The War. THE PRESIDENT: "Iraqi refugees
    tell us how forced confessions are obtained - by torturing children
    while their parents are made to watch. International human rights
    groups have catalogued other methods used in the torture chambers of
    Iraq: electric shock, burning with hot irons, dripping acid on the
    skin, mutilation with electric drills, cutting out tongues, and rape.
    If this is not evil, then evil has no meaning." (President Bush, State
    Of The Union Address, 1/28/03)
      þ UN Security Council Resolution 1441 Deplored That The "Government
        Of Iraq Has Failed To Comply With Its Commitments ... To End
        Repression Of Its Civilian Population And To Provide Access By
        International Humanitarian Organizations To All Those In Need Of
        Assistance In Iraq." (United Nations Security Council, Resolution
        1441, 11/8/02)
  þ President Bush Has Consistently Emphasized The Importance Of Spreading
    Democracy In The Middle East, Including Before The War. THE PRESIDENT:
    "The world has a clear interest in the spread of democratic values,
    because stable and free nations do not breed the ideologies of murder.
    They encourage the peaceful pursuit of a better life. ... A new regime
    in Iraq would serve as a dramatic and inspiring example of freedom for
    other nations in the region." (President Bush, Remarks, Washington, DC,
    2/26/03)

The Associated Press Alleges The President Calls Iraq The "Central Front"
In The War On Terror For Political Purposes. (Tom Raum, "Bush Keeps
Revising War Justification," The Associated Press, 10/14/06)
  þ The Terrorists Consider Iraq "The Central Battlefield" In The War On
    Terror. THE PRESIDENT: "But they've made clear that the most important
    front in their struggle against America is Iraq - the nation bin Laden
    has declared the 'capital of the Caliphate.' Hear the words of bin
    Laden: 'I now address... the whole... Islamic nation: Listen and
    understand... The most... serious issue today for the whole world is
    this Third World War... [that] is raging in [Iraq].' He calls it 'a war
    of destiny between infidelity and Islam.' He says, 'The whole world is
    watching this war,' and that it will end in 'victory and glory or
    misery and humiliation.' For al Qaeda, Iraq is not a distraction from
    their war on America - it is the central battlefield where the outcome
    of this struggle will be decided." (President Bush, Remarks,
    Washington, DC, 9/5/06)
  þ As Early As February 1998, Osama Bin Laden Made It Clear That He Not
    Only Intended To Wage War On The United States, But He Wanted To Use
    Iraq As A Central Battleground. WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY TONY SNOW:
    "From his fatwa, on February 23, 1998, he complained that 'for over
    seven years the United States has been occupying the lands of Islam and
    the holiest of places, the Arabian Peninsula, plundering its riches,
    dictating to its rulers, humiliating its people, terrorizing its
    neighbors, and turning bases in the peninsula into a spearhead through
    which to fight the neighboring Muslim peoples.'" (Tony Snow, Press
    Briefing, Washington, DC, 9/27/06)

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