Bring It On!

Pandora’s Box

March 29th, 2006 | by Dr. Forbush |

Imagine a truckload of documents from Saddam Hussein’s regime. This truckload of documents exists and it is being uploaded to the web for everyone to see. The truck contains all of the communication that Saddam had with his government bureaucrats concerning Iraqi national security. In looking over these documents one would certainly be able to prove that Saddam Hussein had collaborated with al Qaeda. And, we would certainly be able to map out the exact intentions that he had concerning Weapons of Mass Destruction. What a treasure trove for the intelligence community, and anyone wishing to prove that George W Bush was right in his preemptive strike on Iraq.

So, why haven’t we heard about the details contained in this truck? The first obvious guess is that there really isn’t much there. But that isn’t what the administration is saying. The administration is saying that these documents are so numerous that it would be impossible to go through it all of them with the few government intelligence officers could be used. But, it’s been three years and the government has gone through these documents already, that’s how they know that it’s safe to release them. For example, what if Saddam Hussein had a spy within the CIA and they were sending information back to Iraq. That information could be sensitive and certainly could jeopardize the CIA and the US government. So, it would be irresponsible to release this type of documentation without at least going through it once.

And, if the CIA has gone through this documentation at least once looking for sensitive information that they would rather not have released, they must have also looked for evidence that the administration did the right thing in invading Iraq. Right? So, we should be able to conclude safely that this documentation does not contain the smoking gun that the Bush administration would like to have the American people see for the justification for the debacle in Iraq.

So, if that were the case, then why would the Bush administration want this information out on the web?

Let us consider who will want to look at these documents. Obviously since it is impossible to prove the negative with evidence those in favor of the war are looking for justification. Those against the war aren’t likely to find anything that says, “Today we did not meet with al Qaeda. And, then we did not decide to build a chemical weapons depository.” Instead, those in favor of the War will be looking for documentation that says that someone from Saddam’s regime met with someone from North Korea or Iran in order to “prove” that they were working together in the axis of evil. But, does this kind of documentation prove anything?

Well, if there were extensive meeting and documentation of what was discussed at those meetings, then it could be the smoking gun. But if Saddam’s minion simply met with a North Korean minion that only proves that they met. And even Americans have met with those who are developing nuclear weapons in North Korea, but that doesn’t prove that those Americans were helping the North Koreans or vise versa. Instead, it proves that scientists are concerned about nuclear proliferation and they would like to control the spread of nuclear weapons.

But, the Bush administration knows that there are tons of documents that could easily be misunderstood in the context of the relationships between countries. And, if right wing bloggers with a little bit of knowledge and a determination to prove that George W Bush did the right thing in invading Iraq got a hold of them they could easily spread this misinformation around the blogosphere. It doesn’t take much to blow one meeting out of proportion and have the right wing echo chamber resonate with a false message. It happens every day. And, if one blogger uncovers something that sounds important and doesn’t understand the reality it won’t really matter if it is true or not.

If you don’t believe me you should consider whom we are dealing with. These right wing zealots for the war in Iraq cut their teeth on finding the “truth” in the Bible. Deciding what you want to prove, then looking through the Bible to find support for your claim is the modus operandi of these people. Imagine what they can find in a truckload of documents written in Arabic. The first hurdle is to prove whether the translation is right. Then the context of the document needs to be understood. By the time this is done the American people have already chosen to accept the document as fact and they don’t care to understand the details. So, releasing these documents is a win-win opportunity for the Bush administration. I ask you how can they loose? How can truth prevail?

If I believed in conspiracy theories I might suggest that the Bush administration seeded these documents with lies that they expect the bloggers looking through them to “discover.” How could anyone prove them wrong? After all, if there was anything worthwhile in this truckload of documents they Bush administration would have been jumping around yelling, “We told you so.”

Cross Posted @ Bring It On, tblog, Blogger and BlogSpirit

Politics