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Friday, April 21, 2006

What Eli said

You'd think, just over three years after having been lied into a miserable failure of a war by a group of neocon nutcases, that the politicians, the press and the public would be at least a bit skeptical when the same group of nutcases starts telling similar lies about an adjacent country in order to get us into a war likely to make our current miserable failure look like spectacular success in comparison. But Henry Mencken knew what he was talking about when he said "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public." Or to paraphrase Churchill: Seldom have so many been so stupid so that so few could get so rich.

Eli at Left I on the News demonstrates how the WaPo manages to grossly mislead without lying with this sentence:
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last week that Iran was pursuing the enrichment of uranium on an industrial scale, which could allow it to accelerate the development of nuclear weapons.
Eli explains:
Ahmadinejad, of course, not only said nothing about "accelerating the development of nuclear weapons," what he said was the exact opposite.
There are, of course, a few differences between the buildups to Iraq and Iran. Iraq was accused of pursuing activities in violation of UN resolutions, which it wasn't. Iran is accused of, indeed proudly proclaims that it is, pursuing activities which are legal according to provisions of an international treaty (the non-proliferation treaty). Eli looked into what Ahmadinejad actually said. Yes, he expresses his hatred for the US and Israel. (Can anyone still question why?) Yes, he says they are developing nuclear technology--for peaceful purposes, according to the terms of the NPT. Of course he may be lying--he is a politician, after all. But it is not legitimate in the least to say that his words are an admission that Iran is developing weapons or otherwise violating international law. (Unlike another pResident who's words almost daily indict him for being in clear violation of international law, the UN charter, US law, and the US constitution.)

Also, we should remember that Iran has a standing FATWA against making nuclear weapons!

Still, it isn't just the Bushies and their idiotlogues who have been drinking the Kool-Aid. As Eli points out, the Daily Show's Jon Stewart presents the lies as fact:
"We've got an America-hating madman who we know is building WMDs in an oil-rich country that starts with the letters I-R-A."
What is WRONG with these people? They just like being lied into wars???