Bush lied today

Posted by Huffington Post at 9:31 AM on April 3, 2007.

At the request of military commanders I decided to send in reinforcements, Bush said today.

This is a lie.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff overwhelmingly were against the troop surge, unanimously according to the Washington Post, which the President said falsely he decided at their request.

The Iraq commanders overwhelmingly were against the troop surge, which the President said falsely he decided at their request.

When the man who calls himself the decider made the decision to escalate the war, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and our commanders in Iraq were against this escalation.

Any other assertion is a lie.

I grew up at a time when the idea of calling the President of the United States a liar was just unheard of.

When I was high school with Lyndon Johnson, Robert Strange McNamara, and Richard Nixon escalating the war in Vietnam things did indeed begin to change with "the crediblity gap."

It is too late for this President to engage in profound soul searching about what has gone so terribly wrong with his presidency and with his war.

It is too late for this President to engage in profound soul searching about why he causes such intense revulsion throughout America and throughout the free world.

I do not believe George W. Bush is capable of such reflection, integrity of thought, honor of discussion. He is trapped in a world of partisanship, delusion and desperation.

He sends troops to war without adequate body armor, protected vehicles, helmets, bandages and supplies yet he accuses opponents of not supporting the troops.

He sends troops to war with such negligence and lack of support that the Marine Corps pathologist finds that up 70% of the killed and wounded were preventable casualties, yet he accuses opponents of not supporting the troops.

He allows shameful derelictions of treatment for wounded troops that should never occur in our country, yet he accuses opponents of not supporting the troops.

There is an Orwellian character to these attacks and a delusional character to this President's inability to respect facts, common sense, truth and honor in political discourse.

The President said today he decided to surge the troops and escalate the war because our commanders asked him to.

The President lied. They pleaded with him, to do the exact opposite.

Tagged as: bush, iraq, press, escalation

Brent Budowsky served as Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen. Read more at The Huffingtonpost.com.