{"id":192159,"date":"2021-08-23T12:00:06","date_gmt":"2021-08-23T11:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=192159"},"modified":"2021-08-19T04:44:40","modified_gmt":"2021-08-19T03:44:40","slug":"when-will-we-stop-letting-our-presidents-lie-usa-into-wars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2021\/08\/when-will-we-stop-letting-our-presidents-lie-usa-into-wars\/","title":{"rendered":"When Will We Stop Letting Our Presidents Lie USA into Wars?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The U.S. has been lied into too many wars. It’s cost us too much in terms of money, credibility and blood. We must remember the lies. We can\u2019t afford to let this one go down the memory hole, too.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
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Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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16 Aug 2021 – <\/em>Let\u2019s never forget that what we are watching happen right now in Afghanistan is the final act of George W. Bush\u2018s 2004 reelection strategy.After 9\/11 the Taliban offered to arrest Bin Laden, but Bush turned them down<\/a> because he wanted to be a \u201cwartime president\u201d to have a \u201csuccessful presidency.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Washington Post headline weeks after 9\/11 put it succinctly: \u201cBush Rejects Taliban Offer On Bin Laden<\/a>.\u201d With that decision not<\/em> to arrest and try Bin Laden for his crime but instead to go to war George W. Bush set the US and Afghanistan on a direct path to today.<\/p>\n

More recently, Trump and Pompeo gave the Taliban everything they wanted<\/a> \u2014 power, legitimacy and the release of 5000 of their worst war criminals \u2014 over the strong objections of the Afghan government in 2019 so Trump could falsely claim, heading into the 2020 election, that he\u2019d \u201cnegotiated peace\u201d in Afghanistan when in fact he\u2019d set up this week\u2019s debacle.<\/p>\n

\u201dThe relationship I have with the Mullah is very good,\u201d Trump proclaimed<\/a> after ordering the mullah who yesterday named himself President freed from prison over the furious objection of Afghan\u2019s government,<\/a> who Trump had cut out of the negotiations.<\/p>\n

Now Trump and the GOP are scrubbing the record of that betrayal of both USA and Afghanistan and embrace of the Taliban from their websites, as noted here<\/a> and here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And the UK is coming right out and saying that Trump\u2019s \u201crushed\u201d deal with the Taliban \u2014 without involvement of the Afghan government or the international community \u2014 set up this disaster. \u201cThe die was cast,\u201d Defense Minister Ben Wallace told the BBC<\/a>, \u201cwhen the deal was done by Donald Trump, if you want my observation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s sabotage notwithstanding, President Biden, the State Department and the Pentagon should have anticipated this week\u2019s debacle in Afghanistan. The fact that they didn\u2019t speaks volumes about how four administrations, the Pentagon and our defense contractors covered up how poorly the Ashraf Ghani government was doing there. Just like they did with Vietnam. It\u2019s on\u00a0all<\/em>\u00a0of them.<\/p>\n

And this isn\u2019t the first time a president has lied us into a war.<\/p>\n