Letter to the Editor

Bush, Cheney embarrassing

To the editor:

Prior to the invasion of Iraq, professionals in the U.S. intelligence community tried to tell President Bush and Vice President Cheney that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction, there were no links between Hussein and al-Qaida, Iraq was not responsible for 9-11 and Iraq was not a threat to the United States. But they chose the lies of ex-patriot and documented liar Ahmed Chalabi, because his lies suited their purpose.

Cheney even sent former ambassador Joseph Wilson to check on the reputed African uranium deal that Hussein had allegedly attempted and was told that the story was a fabrication and the documents forged. Yet Bush and Cheney continue to present the big lie as though the truth were not obvious. Even the U.N. weapons inspectors told them, and they chose not to believe.

Now, before the United Nations, shameless Bush lies again. He must know his own intelligence indicates the range of future scenarios for Iraq does not include the rosy picture he dreams. Instead, Bush has imposed on Iraq a future that ranges from outright civil war to years of guerilla warfare and social upheaval. That democracy is an outcome of the Iraq invasion, now costing over 1,000 U.S.. lives and tens of thousands of Iraqi lives, is so unlikely as not to earn a mention. Their fiasco is revealed for what it is, and still they seem not to get it.

They are embarrassing themselves and the nation. They have to go.

JUDY CURETON, Cape Girardeau