What we heard then vs. what we hear now...

I heard a really powerful piece on NPR yesterday exploring the history of the current Iraq war and reviewing the various messages given by the administration for going there.

I had had a similar idea a few weeks ago. Another one of those things you think about doing but never quite find the time to do. The idea was to try and put together a pastiche of media, chronologically ordered, of all the noteworthy news and media that have brought us to the situation we're in now; the chief point being to be able to give supporters of the current administration something tough to put in their craw. I firmly believe that this administration chooses their words, not based on the truth, but based on what they find most effective to manipulate the public. I think that this NPR piece proves it pretty well. Thankfully, Mike Shuster did my little project for me, and in a very powerful and clear way, by using the words of the president and various members of the White House.

"We are implementing a strategy that will lead to victory in Iraq, and a victory in Iraq will make this country more secure, and will help lay the foundation of peace for generations to come." - George W. Bush

"...states like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world by seeking weapons of mass destruction. These regimes pose a grave and growing danger. They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred." - George W. Bush

"There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt that he is amassing them to use them against our friends, against our allies and against us." - Dick Cheney, speaking to Korean War Veterans in August 2002.

"We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud." - Condi