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Originally Posted by ubertuber
I guess this is what it comes down to here. Only one set of people had unfettered access to ALL of the information. That set of people misrepresented the certainty of their claims and failed to acknowledge or communicate to anyone else the doubt and opposing points of view within the intelligence community. In fact, as dc_dux so succinctly pointed out, they actively prevented responsible parties from having access to a spectrum of views.
My position (and I assume that of dc_dux) holds that Bush ignored/discounted/misrepresented/covered up information that was highly classified. This is not the same as "he used information that was highly classified" (your words, not mine). Several people have said this in many ways in this thread. If that isn't deception or false pretenses, what is it?
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Bush thought Sadaam was a threat. I thought he was a threat, even without any access to classified information.
Bush thought he needed to be removed from power. I thought he needed to be removed from power, even without access to any classified information.
Bush thought Sadaam had or was seeking nuclear weapons. I thought Sadaam had or was seeking nuclear weapons, even without access to any classified information.
Bush thought Sadaam would cooperate with terrorists in future attacks - if he hadn't already. I thought Sadaam would cooperate with terrorists in future attacks - if he hadn't already.
Today you folks sit around and think that if you only had access to classified information, some information that verified spefics actions and other information that contradicted spefic actions, everything above would not matter. Bush clearly communicated what he thought, and what he thought was true. if you thought his statements were lies, and that caused you to go from Sadaam is not a threat to Sadaam is a threat, there is nothing that can be said that will make a difference.