Jeffrey R. Small – 3/13/06

This page was last updated on March 13, 2006.

Bush lied nation into war; Jeffrey R. Small; Beaver County Times; March 13, 2006.

According to FindLaw, Mr. Small is a criminal law attorney. As you will read below, Mr. Small has some nerve calling anyone a liar.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“President Bush swore to us that al-Qaeda was linked with Saddam Hussein. Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and the capability of nuclear weapons. Iraq had to be conquered and Hussein removed.”

[RWC] President Bush never linked Saddam Hussein with 9/11 – which is what Mr. Small really means – and never claimed Iraq had nuclear weapons. The historical record clearly shows al-Qaida was active in Iraq and had links to the Iraqi government, but no apparent cooperation on the 9/11 attacks.

Regime change in Iraq became U.S. policy when then-President Clinton signed the “Iraq Liberation Act of 1998” (Public Law No: 105-338) on October 31, 1998. Section 3 of the law states, “It should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq and to promote the emergence of a democratic government to replace that regime.” The act passed the House 360 to 38 and passed the Senate by unanimous consent. This was more than two years before President Bush took office.

“We believed our president.”

[RWC] After reading this letter, could any reasonable person conclude Mr. Small ever believed anything President Bush said? After all, Mr. Small isn’t even truthful about what President Bush said.

“The evidence is unequivocal that the premises for invasion of Iraq were false and our president knew the premises were false.”

[RWC] Did you note Mr. Small didn’t cite the sources for his allegation? In fact, every post mortem of pre-war intelligence has concluded President Bush and Congress acted in good faith with the information provided to them. Remember, President Bush made no accusations not made by the Clinton administration and most intelligence agencies throughout the world.

“The present excuse for invasion is an establishment of democracy in the Middle East. The president’s current explanation for our presence in Iraq does not coincide with his initial reasons for invasion.”

[RWC] Mr. Small needs to read the Iraq War Resolution passed by Congress. This resolution references the above-mentioned “Iraq Liberation Act of 1998.”

“Imagine if our president had explained we needed to invade Iraq to establish democracy. He would not have been supported. The president lied to his country, pure and simple.”

[RWC] Whether it speaks good or bad of us, the first two sentences are probably correct if national security was not part of the equation. The record, however, shows President Bush did not lie. While all reviews so far conclude President Bush had wrong information, depending on wrong information and lying are not the same. I thought lawyers knew that.

“We call on all Americans to oppose any further funding for the war in Iraq. We call on all Americans to be wary and to oppose war with Iran. We call on all Americans to demand Congress appoint a panel of the most qualified non-partisan experts in America, knowledgeable of the Muslim world. They shall meet with leaders of the Muslim world. They shall inform us of the grievances Muslims have with the United States.”

[RWC] Who are “we?” I wonder if Mr. Small cut-and-pasted this paragraph from some website. I Googled some of the phrases but didn’t get any hits.

Here’s the gist of this paragraph. The U.S. is guilty of doing something that has caused Islamofascists to attack the U.S. throughout the world for the past 30 years. We need to meet with these killers so they can tell us what we’ve done wrong.

Perhaps Mr. Small hasn’t been paying attention. These killers are also killing fellow Muslims whom they believe are not “Muslim enough.” Mr. Small sounds like a modern day Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister who believed it was possible to appease or negotiate with Adolf Hitler and his Nazis. Some people never learn the lessons of history.

“Hopefully, then we will understand a culture so different from our own and decide democratically how to end this senseless worldwide misunderstanding and violence.”

[RWC] “Worldwide misunderstanding?” There is no misunderstanding. These nuts have stated repeatedly their goal is to establish Islam as the only religion on Earth, establish a worldwide government based on their idea of Islamic law, and to kill all “infidels.” To these killers, infidels are non-Muslims and Muslims who aren’t Muslim enough.

For the sake of his clients, I hope Mr. Small does a better job defending his clients than he did above defending his position.