It is now official that the former Iraqi President Saddam Hussain had no links with al Qaeda - one of the pretexts used by US President George W. Bush to invade and occupy Iraq.
A report released by the 9/11 Commission on Wednesday says, "We have no credible evidence that Iraq and al Qaeda co-operated on attacks against the United States." It also reveals that Osama bin Laden made at least two attempts to elicit Saddam's support, but "they do not appear to have resulted in a collaborative relationship."
This finding completely contradicts what Bush and his neo-conservative Vice-President, Dick Cheney, have been saying until recently with much apparent confidence.
Bush and the neo-con clique around him had justified their Iraq occupation scheme on two points: one that the Saddam regime possessed weapons of mass destruction; and two, that it had links with bin Laden's terror outfit and hence presented a "clear and present danger" to America's security.
Bush lied on both these counts. Soon after he declared victory standing before a "Mission Accomplished" banner aboard a naval ship, he had set up Iraq Survey Group (ISG), headed by his handpicked weapons expert, David Kay, to look for the alleged WMD.
ISG men scoured all over Iraq for months, and found nothing. Kay resigned some time ago announcing his finding, "we were all wrong" about Iraq's WMD capability.
The 9/11 Commission's conclusive verdict on the issue of alleged Iraqi links with al Qaeda also counters the other claim of Bush and company.
According to a study carried out in Britain a few months ago, at least 10,000 Iraqi civilians and 30,000 military men, many of them teen-aged boys, lost their lives during the invasion to the brazen lies of the neo-cons.
Countless others were maimed for life. Hundreds more have died in the ensuing resistance.
The US casualty figures, though still in hundreds, too are mounting, and there is no end in sight to this bloodletting.
Moreover, his war against Iraq and the political miscalculations on which it was based have forced Bush to focus both military and economic resources on Iraq at the expense of his country's battle against terrorist elements in Afghanistan.
The illegality and immorality of the war in Iraq has further fuelled anti-American Muslim anger, swelling the ranks of al Qaeda type organisations.
In short, Bush's lies to wage the war against Iraq have caused colossal losses in terms of human life while posing new threats to the security of American people.
Now that it has been established by no less a body than a high level bi-partisan commission that Bush lied to invade and occupy Iraq, what are the Americans going to do about it?
The leading newspaper, "The New York Times," while explaining that "of all the ways Bush persuaded Americans to back the invasion of Iraq last year, the most plainly dishonest was his effort to link his war of choice with the battle against terrorists world-wide," has suggested that he should apologise to the American people.
Considering that two former US presidents in recent history had to face impeachment proceedings on far less serious charges of misconduct - Richard Nixon for ordering secret taping of what went on at a Democratic party convention at Watergate hotel, and Bill Clinton for lying about an extra-marital affair - an apology would not be even a rap on the presidential knuckles.
Bush has not only lied to his own people and dragged them into an unsuccessful war against a small sovereign nation; his adventure has caused the deaths of thousands of innocent people.
Of course, Americans are not expected to punish their president for killing innocent people in other lands, but their compatriots too are dying. More to the point, their president is guilty of open deceit on an issue concerning security.
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