Iraq Distortions Cast Shadow Over Inhofe Campaign

(In the coming weeks, Okie Funk will set the record straight when it comes to U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe. This blog will be publishing an open-ended series “The Case Against Jim Inhofe.” The series will comment on Inhofe’s political and business escapades, from his earlier lies about when he graduated from college to the insurance company he ran into insolvency to his dirty campaign tactics. It will show how Inhofe has consistently hurt the state’s image. It will focus as well on Inhofe’s atrocious record on economic, health, energy, environmental, military and government spending issues. Here are the installments published before this post: Part I: “Rice Gains Ground on Inhofe," Part II: “Character Issue Follows Inhofe,” Part III: “When Inhofe Talks, People Cringe.”)

(A different version of the below post was first published May 7, 2007.)

"Our intelligence system has said that we know that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction -- I believe including nuclear. There's not one person on this panel who would tell you unequivocally that he doesn't have the missile means now, or is nearly getting the missile means to deliver a weapon of mass destruction. And I for one am not willing to wait for that to happen."--Jim Inhofe on Meet The Press, 2002)

U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe's bizarre comments last year on the Iraq occupation completely contradicted what he said during the time period leading up to the invasion.

In a Tulsa World article (“Vice President Visits Tulsa: Cheney, Inhofe blasted Democrats’ plan for Iraq,” April 27, 2007), Inhofe claims the reasons for the gruesome Iraq occupation initially had nothing to do with finding weapons of mass destruction. Inhofe actually blamed the press for the so-called “mischaracterization.”

This was not simply political spin on Inhofe's part. This was a calculated lie by an angry warmonger intent on rewriting history to cover his errors and misjudgment.

Here’s what Inhofe said, according to the article: "The whole idea of weapons of mass destruction was never the issue, yet they [reporters] keep trying to bring this up.” That's right. His argument is that weapons of mass destruction were never used as "the issue" for the country's invasion of Iraq.

But this is what Inhofe himself said on Meet The Press in 2002: "Our intelligence system has said that we know that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction -- I believe including nuclear. There's not one person on this panel who would tell you unequivocally that he doesn't have the missile means now, or is nearly getting the missile means to deliver a weapon of mass destruction. And I for one am not willing to wait for that to happen."

Here’s what President George Bush said on March 3, 2003: ““Our mission is clear in Iraq. Should we have to go in, our mission is very clear: disarmament.”

Here’s what the president said on March 22, 2003: ““Our cause is just, the security of the nations we serve and the peace of the world. And our mission is clear, to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, to end Saddam Hussein’s support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people.”

(The above Bush quotes were taken from the Think Progress blog.)

We can’t forget then Secretary of State Colin Powell’s presentation to the United Nations before the war in which he claimed the evidence was clear Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The whole idea behind Powell’s speech was to convince a skeptical world that Hussein had such weapons and could possibly use them. Powell said he now regrets making the speech.

Here’s what Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said about the Iraq invasion in 2003: "Let us be very clear about why we went to war against Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein's regime posed a threat to the security of the United States and the world. This was a regime that had pursued, had used, and possessed weapons of mass destruction."

Inhofe must think Oklahomans are too stupid to get online and find the facts or read a credible newspaper about the issue. The state’s press has done a miserable job challenging Inhofe’s bizarre statements. His bizarre statements should be a major issue in the press here.

Is there not a reporter at one of the big, corporate newspapers in the state who has the guts to challenge Inhofe’s? Will the editors not print the truth? This reporter would be backed by thousands of Oklahomans and millions upon millions of Americans and world, citizens who are sick of Jim Inhofe and his lies about the war and global warming.

The issue also shows how Bush and his supporters like Inhofe cannot be trusted to tell the truth about Iraq. The right-wing war machine disavows historical accuracy, and it manipulates the masses with cultural wedge issues.

When you can’t trust your United States Senator to tell a simple truth about an issue as important as a military invasion and subsequent occupation and when your local media will not hold important politicians accountable for obvious lies, then democracy is threatened. People throughout the country are realizing this and are now working outside the corporate media system to bring about real change.

Meanwhile, Inhofe has recently launched attacks ad against state Sen. Andrew Rice, his opponent in his reelection bid. As expected, these ads are as credible as his distortions on Iraq.