Politics

Ex-Secretary Apologizes for W.M.D. Scare

300,000 Troops Never Faced Risk of Instant Obliteration

Ex-Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice reassured soldiers that the Bush Administration had known well before the invasion that Saddam Hussein lacked weapons of mass destruction.

A lone helmet lies in the desert near Atrush, Iraq, a monument to absence. (ROB 7812/AP)

A lone helmet lies in the desert near Atrush, Iraq, a monument to absence (ROB 7812/AP).

“Now that all of you brave servicemen and women are returning, it’s important to us to reassure you, and the American people, that we were certain Hussein had no W.M.D.s and that he would never launch a first strike against the U.S.,” Ms. Rice told a group of wounded soldiers at a Veterans’ Administration hospital yesterday.

“I want you to know that if we had had the slightest suspicion that Saddam could use W.M.D.s against you, we never would have sent hundreds of thousands of you to be sitting ducks on the Iraqi border for several months.”

Mr. Rice was referring to the fact that by August 2002, eight months before the ground invasion, the US had over 100,000 troops stationed in countries throughout the Gulf, a number that grew to over 300,000 shortly before the 2003 attack on Baghdad. Most of these were within range of the Scud missiles used by Mr. Hussein in the 1991 Gulf War, that could easily have been fitted with chemical or biological weapons if they had existed.

Rice noted that in the 1991 Gulf War, Hussein had used missiles to launch attacks on Israel, which made him popular with Arab citizens throughout the Middle East.

“Do you really think we would have given Saddam a major public relations coup by allowing him to annihilate tens of thousands of you right there on holy territory?” asked Ms. Rice.

Former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger responded to Ms. Rice’s revelation without surprise. “Of course this was the case. When Israel believed Iraq had nuclear weapons in 1981, they didn’t attack on the ground — they bombed from the air. That’s a pre-emptive attack. If you believe deterrence will not prevent an attack and that your enemy has W.M.D.s, then the last thing you do is station your troops right next door.”

ABC’s George Stephanopoulos believes that it was former President Bush’s trial for high treason that spurred the revelations.

“There’s nothing to hide anymore,” said Ms. Rice. “We are relieved to finally be able tell you, the troops who fought for us, that we love our soldiers and we always have. We would never have put you in such obvious harm’s way.”

Ms. Rice also confirmed Secretary of Defense Scott Ritter’s revelation that he had provided the C.I.A. with documentation in the 1990s, when he was a U.N. weapons inspector, that Iraq lacked biological or nuclear weapons programs. “We were then already far more than 99 percent certain that Hussein had zero W.M.D.s and that if he did, he would not be able to use them against us.”

74 Comments so far ...

1. Fuck

Fuck off, yanks.

Comment on November 13, 2008 05:25 am
2. the end as we know it

the kingdom of hell is falling apart…

Comment on November 13, 2008 05:37 am
3. george

Great! Razorsharp and merciless! It’s a pity all this wasn’t heard at the time of the invasion when an overwhelming majority was in favour of it. This was a government which has been threatening world peace all along. The media should draw lessons from this.

Comment on November 13, 2008 07:09 am
4. strty

What the hell? There’s a war in Iraq!?

Comment on November 13, 2008 10:43 am
5. nikki

Fantastic article. Really captured the tone of the Times. I especially love your reference to the Dow Jones - the economic barometer of our social existence.

Comment on November 13, 2008 10:57 am
6. Jeff

Idiocy at it’s finest…..

Comment on November 13, 2008 11:19 am
7. cat

Love the picture of Condi describing the size of Georgie’s manhood.

Comment on November 13, 2008 11:19 am
8. Mohd Kutty

A brave act, pray to help this to rethink the authority of USA to countinue the wars in Iraq and Afaganistan

Comment on November 13, 2008 11:26 am

[...] Rice Apologizes for WMD’s lies The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice reassured soldiers that the Bush Administration had known well [...]

Pingback on November 13, 2008 11:31 am
10. Very Funny

The posts are ever funnier than the story…

Comment on November 13, 2008 12:10 pm
11. Jack

A very very very sharp parody. Better than the Onion, which goes for the laughs, this site is spot-on.

Comment on November 13, 2008 12:18 pm
12. tweell

Scott Ritter, child molester, Secretary of Defense. Yes, you too can do anything as long as you are a liberal, morals are less than nothing to Democrats.

Comment on November 13, 2008 01:04 pm
13. Hanif

It is not the end of the crusade. But the loser brand alredy has been labeled on the latest US-war. Thanks to the autors of this paper :)

Comment on November 13, 2008 02:05 pm
14. Bill

Glad this pisses off the right wing nuts!! GOOD.

Comment on November 13, 2008 03:27 pm
15. paolo

The surge is working. ha ha ha
Where were you guys when this was really happening?
Oh please let me wake up and realize the last 8 years were just a nightmare.
INDICT RUMSFELD ET ALIA

Comment on November 13, 2008 04:12 pm
16. John

amazing

Comment on November 13, 2008 04:32 pm

[...] can see the fake New York Times website, which has articles like  Ex-Secretary Apologizes for W.M.D. Scare  and USA Patriot Act Repealed, as well as “New York Bike Path System Expanded [...]

Pingback on November 13, 2008 04:56 pm
18. mmp

truly spot-ON! pealing the onion of parody! it would make me cry if it didn’t make me laugh.

Comment on November 13, 2008 07:27 pm

Read the truth and be free! Start here as people in Gaza are being starved out and denied human neccessities. A boat carrying world human rights activists has broken the Israeli embargo which some see as a collective punishment against the people of Gaza and in violation international law and U.N. resolutions. On board were members of the E.U. parliment on a fact finding mission due to each respective country’s entropy. This news is rather hard to come by in U.S. mass media, and something needs to be done about that and this is an amazing start in the right direction! Let’s make the new administration “Keep the Promise.”

Comment on November 13, 2008 07:41 pm
20. Gianfranco

This is like “Early Edition” gone good… I mean, better…

Comment on November 14, 2008 03:53 am
21. Ilya

Как можно назвать нацию которая выбрала буша на второй срок?

Comment on November 14, 2008 04:56 am
22. pete cresswell

We all knew it was a lie. You can always tell when Bush is lying because his lips move and the same goes for Blair. 9/11 was also an inside job and it is all about making money for the armament companies Haliburton and GEC who don’t give a toss how many lives are lost as it is one big gravy train where they can charge the American taxpayer $50 for a can of coke or $600 for a toilet seat unquestioned. Bushes family are part of the illuminati and Blair wishes to be .Both evil .America like Britain has been “dumbed” down and controlled with a lot of mind numbing TV and a media up to its necks in the cover ups. It’s all money for the Federal Reserve Bank illegally set up and it’s robbing you of evrything. But then you are no more a democracy than Britain. Here Blair got in with 4 out of 5 people NOT voting for him. But still the sheep here and in America carry on voting for” Republican or Democrats”, “Labour or Conservative”. Vote them both into History and start again. Take back your country any way you can before it’s to late. How come the media never ever talk about this as well? Another Roswell cover up.
http://forums.mirror.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=23352&highlight=

Comment on November 14, 2008 05:21 am
23. Andreas

Sounds too good to be true. Europe and the rest of the world will be happy if your comical George W. is standing under the gallow. 9/11 was an inside job, he and his camarilla were only seeking a reason to start a war. In other words: criminal intent.

Comment on November 14, 2008 06:21 am
24. none

Debt slave sounds like an antisemite. You get a lot of those in Europe. It is very sane and reasonable for a nation (Israel) to blocade another country (Palestine in Gaza) which contantly attacks it, and has explicitly state that its goal is to exterminate the people of the first nation.

Pete Crosswell is lying. More than 500 WMD have been found since the invasion.

Comment on November 14, 2008 06:59 am
25. none

Andreas: you are lying also. 9/11 was entirely the work of Al Queda. Bush was not trying to start any wars. Iraq and Afghanistan started them. Bush gave them plenty of time to call off their aggression, and the allies retaliated against Iraq and Afghanistan as a last resort. The only people who hate Bush are terrorists, or those who know nothing about world affairs.

Comment on November 14, 2008 07:02 am
26. Ender

A bunch of idiots is what I see when I look at this shit. SOCIALIST AMERICA AM I READY TO COURT YOU?

Comment on November 14, 2008 10:07 am
27. Sloan

Ender, get yourself a boat and go live on some desert island in the the middle of nowhere, I’m sure you will be happy there. On the way, read a dictionary and educate yourself, cause you certainly do not know what socialism is… If you see idiots, well you are either in denial or blind as a bat with no radar.

If you want to get through this mess people need to pull together, period. (socialism… wake up Dude!)

Comment on November 14, 2008 11:39 am
28. godos

oh my god

Comment on November 14, 2008 12:05 pm
29. JBGood

No.24, quit crying wolf with that antisemite BS. There is nothing that suggests this in Debt’s comments. Open your eyes, repression and human tragedy exist in Gaza and other parts of the world, trying to help people in need is not a racist thing. I do not know what you have been smoking or what crap you have been reading, because no WMD have been found in Iraq (If you have better intel, you tell that to Gen. Collin Powell, I’m sure he would love to know…).

Comment on November 14, 2008 12:20 pm
30. none

@sloan. Socialism is a system of rule in which the government controls the means of production (economy). This is in contrast to capitalism, where the ruled make economic decisions.

Famous Socialists include Lenin, Milosevic, Stalin, Pol Pot, Hitler, and Castro.

@JB Good: More than 500 chemical weapons warheads were found in Iraq after the invasion. All of these were outlawed, and the presence of them (as they were hidden by Saddam Hussein) was a violation of the cease fire agreements. Yes, WMD were found in Iraq.

Antisemitism is not BS. It is the root of hatred against Israel. It sure makes it hard to welcome Gaza into any sort of decent international community, when its government is devoted to exterminating Jews. And most of the people in Gaza support that sort of “final solution”. The blockade against Gaza exists because of the Hamas government. If you want to end it, convince them to back off their genocide goal and stop their attacks.

Comment on November 14, 2008 12:43 pm
31. Sloan

Well according to you, it look’s like republicans/democrats are turning into criminal socialists… C’mon, making the US look a little more like England, Canada, or Sweeden with some universal health care is certainly not Socialism, you know that. If you got money to go to war man you have a hundred times more cash to heel and help the people. Scaring the masses with inappropriate words that twist definitions is not the way to make things better… America needs to take care of itself and change it’s special interest oriented foreign policy. It has ruined it’s economy and credibility from the beginning. Bring the troops home now. No more War’s.

Comment on November 14, 2008 01:50 pm
32. Been there, done that

Dear Bill,
Before you start talking about “right wing loons” I recommend that you read numbers 22 and 23. If we had to measure looniness I highly suspect that those on the left significantly outnumber those on the right. Liberalism is a disease but it is treatable if and when those affected take a dose of reality.

Comment on November 14, 2008 02:48 pm
33. Robert Jackson

What would a nazi like yourself know about morals, tweel?

Comment on November 14, 2008 03:20 pm
34. pete cresswell

You must be a “thick as a plank Republican” if you believe that Bush propaganda None. Bush an d Blair should be tried for war crimes.

Comment on November 14, 2008 03:27 pm
35. JBGood

Yes Antisemitism is no BS and like all other forms of racism it should be exposed an dealt with accordingly. In this case you are accusing someone of being Antisemite because he or she does not agree with current Israeli Policy; that is not legit or correct and inappropriately used to smear, discredit and shut people up. True Hamas is a terrorist organization but that does not change the suffering to all Palestinians and especially those who disagree with Hamas. Seems to me when Sharron was in power things were no different for Arafat during the siege of Nablus. Ironically, Israel then had a better chance to strike a deal with the moderate PLO regardless of Hamas. Peace activist Rachel Corrie was certainly no antisemite when she was brutally crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer trying to protect a Palestinian house from being demolished back in 2003. Like others, all I hope is that a little love, trust and understanding can seep up through the cracks of that region soon.

Comment on November 14, 2008 03:28 pm
36. Turtleproof

Our nation is in rough shape when the parodies are the only sources that tell the truth. Funny that the “liberal media” is nothing but a mouthpiece for a white house full of future war crimes convicts.

Comment on November 14, 2008 06:04 pm

Dear “none” and all readers, I’ve been called an “anti-semite” already. Now every one knows that drill, thanks for presenting a textbook case of it “none.” Just read the Real Talk! link and see what you think. Also click on Debt Slave, Not! that link will fill you in on media distortions of the type “none” is refering too, just the fact based ones though. I have no need to speak rhetoric on this subject as history and facts strip it away. Reasonably, with all the alarms about WMD’s in the middle east and countries wanting to go nuclear it would help all nuclear negotiations if Israel was brought to task before the U.N. and nuclear regulatory agencies to divulge it’s cache of WMD’s. I realize this is a hot potatoe issue but it is the missing peace of the puzzle in many talks. As long as special conditions exist it’s not good for all countries involved.

Comment on November 14, 2008 06:45 pm
38. none

There is no need to bring them “to task”. Israel lives under the threat of extermination from most of its neighbors, and needs such a deterrent.

I checked Debt’s page. It in itself was an excellent example of media distortion. But it does show how disastrous the Palestinians’s ridiculous war has been to the Palestinians, once you read through the general “destroy the Israelis” mindset. Everyone would do well to learn from Egypt. They decided to stop trying to exterminate the Israelis, and there has been a good long peace.

Comment on November 14, 2008 07:07 pm
39. none

(and yes, Real Talk outs himself as an antisemite for his support of such a pro-extermination web site). I just hope that people who hate Jews like this will have no sway in the new Presidential administration.

Comment on November 14, 2008 07:09 pm
40. none

@31 sloan: “making the US look a little more like England, Canada, or Sweeden with some universal health care is certainly not Socialism”

Government control of private matters is indeed socialism, and having the government take away health care from the private sector and turn it a state-controlled monopoly is very socialist. It’s a bad idea, and it is not a good reason to do something bad just because others do it.

@sloan: “If you got money to go to war man you have a hundred times more cash to heel and help the people.”

Defense is a proper function of government. Playing doctor is not.

@sloan: “Bring the troops home now. No more War’s.”

Bring the troops home only when all of the terrorists are defeated. As for “no more wars”, tell the terrorists in the Middle East. They started the wars. Perhaps you could gently pursuade them not to start any more.

Comment on November 14, 2008 07:13 pm

Casa Inicio Armagedão “C.I.A”

E o povo de um continente poderoso está agora amarrado, a figura da maldade domina sobre a sua vontade, e povo é levado há escravidão.

As mentiras da figura da maldade eram poderosas mas enganadoras, os povos seguiam os seus passos porque eram aliciados com o poder da sua riqueza, o poder da figura da maldade comprava as gerações com as sus artimanhas, e com as fraquezas das nações submetia-as ás suas ordens escravizantes e aos seus maquiavélicos planos.

As nações e os continentes eram agora submetidos ás ordens da figura poderosa, ao domínio das suas quatro faces, todas as gerações eram escravizadas sob ordem da figura da maldade, o seu poder tinha estendido-se porque as suas mentiras e as suas armadilhas tinham enganado todos, e todas as gerações eram dominadas pelo poder da figura da maldade.

A figura da maldade tinha conquistado todo o seu poder sobre a forma da mentira e da escravidão que tinha implantado sobre uma forma de subterfúgio, a figura da maldade tinha cometido genocídio na sua própria geração.

O poder da figura da maldade era agora uma certeza, tinha no seu comando e muito bem organizado as quatro faces poderosas, todos obedeciam ás suas ordens e todos eram escravos do seu poderoso império maquiavélico.

Abriu-se assim o seu esconderijo, o seu poder era agora a forma dominante sobre todas as raças e gerações, a figura da maldade era dominante mesmo na sua geração criada e formada em laboratório cientifico, o seu grande plano era agora posto em prática sobre todas as formas criadas, a força do seu poder bélico que dominava, levava os seus guerreiros para todas as frentes. Todo o desenvolvimento e todos os recursos que possuía tinham agora resultado, a figura da maldade já o tinha tentado anteriormente, mas o se plano maquiavélico tinha falhado, ouve obstáculos para a sua concretização, mas a figura da maldade não tinha desistido, unicamente mudou de táctica e de lugar, agora os seus planos tecnológicos tinham avançado e a sua forma primaria tinha evoluído para uma super potência.

Mas agora todo o seu poder que anteriormente tinha falhado estava de volta e a sua conquista sobre a forma de mentiras bem arquitectadas tinham gerado o resultado da sua pretensão.

O resultado da figura da maldade era a conquista sobre todas as formas, a escravidão era o sinal do seu misterioso código, no seu domínio todas as formas obedeciam ás suas ordens todos eram escravos sobre as suas ordens maléficas e maquiavélicas, mas agora não havia como fugir ao seu poder estava instalado sobre todas as formas e todos era escravizados pelo seu domínio que possuía.

O inconveniente da figura da maldade estava na verdade para se dar. A figura da maldade sabia que a sua conquista se tinha realizado no seu domínio, mas agora o confronto com a verdade tinha de acontecer tinha de se realizar, porque a figura da maldade tinha escravizado as gerações.

A frontalidade com que a figura da maldade ia experimentar, era presentemente a força da criação do universo celestial, agora eram projectados todas os actos levados a efeito pela figura da maldade, a figura da maldade era confrontada com a realidade dos seus actos cometidos ás gerações, assim todos puderam assistir a todas as manobras maquiavélicas criadas e levadas a efeito pela figura da maldade.

O selo que tinha um símbolo de um numero era aberto. O livro das paginas seladas abria assim a sua magnanimidade.

Mais valia o livro das paginas selas e do numero descrito na pagina, nunca ter sido aberto nem sido revelado, do seu interior saia assim a sua imparcialidade sobre todas as formas, o seu numero era descrito infinitamente.

Nada nem ninguém agora tinha como poder fazer parar as paginas seladas do livro selado e com o numero da exactidão.

Mais valia para a humanidade não ter visto o livro selado abrir as suas paginas, quem tinha a possibilidade da contemplação, da realidade que se abria e se revelava do livro selado. Saia do livro de paginas seladas o inicio quem assistia ficava apavorado e não conseguia descrever toda aquela sequência que estava acontecer. Agora os acontecimentos estavam a realizar-se, como estavam descritos e sublinhados nas paginas do livro selado, em que as paginas eram folheadas para que tudo se concretiza-se como estava descrito no volume.

Muitos quiseram ter assistido mas não puderam realizar o seu desejo, muitos acompanharam a revelação do acontecimento e desejaram não ter assistido.

Comment on November 14, 2008 07:56 pm
42. goodas

Oh great - so what was the reason for us going there again? And how did this relate to the WTC 9/11 incident? And why did we lose so many US troop lives if this wasn’t the case? And this is supposed to be a comforting statement, how? And what were the Repubs talking about during the election campains then? I only have questions. Did we need their admittance to know that this was always the case? How do they justify the shit storm of lost lives, financial hardship we’ve endured because of an increased deficit where none was needed. Oh and why are they telling us this on their way out if they had always known? Seriously. WTF!!!!

Comment on November 14, 2008 10:03 pm
43. Giane

Congratulations, guys!!! I am from Brazil and the press told here about this fake edition of NYT. I am from the social movement here and I apreciate so much this kind of atitude. Never ever give up!! One day we are gonna read some of this news! I`m positive.

Comment on November 14, 2008 10:59 pm
44. Ralph

Excuse me. I thought WMDs were the reason for attacking Iraq. If we knew beforehand that they did not have them why did we attach? Isn’t this proof that the administration lied to the us and the rest of the world?

Comment on November 15, 2008 12:07 pm
45. Ralph

oops

Comment on November 15, 2008 12:09 pm
46. none

We knew beforehand that they had WMD (Saddam Hussein was blocking inspections, after all, and never documented the destruction of the WMD everyone knew he had stockpiled), and we found them afterwards. The administration did not lie, but the opponents of the administration did lie.

There were also many reasons to retaliate against Iraq. Saddam’s ongoing aggression and attacks, funding/hosting/support of numerous terrorist groups, and violation of most of the cease-fire agreements were more than reason enough. Especially after Saddam was given a very reasonable amount of time to comply with very reasonable requirements.

The world should be thankful. Few terrorists remain in Iraq compared to when Saddam controlled it, and the place is an actual democracy. The terrorist threat there has been all but removed.

Comment on November 15, 2008 01:33 pm

Like every other — Like every other citizen, I wish the new President, and all who will labor with him, Godspeed. I pray that the coming years will be blessed with peace and prosperity for all.

Our people expect their President and the Congress to find essential agreement on issues of great moment, the wise resolution of which will better shape the future of the nation. We now stand ten years past the midpoint of a century that has witnessed four major wars among great nations. Three of these involved our own country.

Despite these holocausts, America is today the strongest, the most influential, and most productive nation in the world. Understandably proud of this pre-eminence, we yet realize that America’s leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches, and military strength, but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human betterment.

Throughout America’s adventure in free government, our basic purposes have been to keep the peace, to foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity, and integrity among peoples and among nations. To strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people. Any failure traceable to arrogance, or our lack of comprehension, or readiness to sacrifice would inflict upon us grievous hurt, both at home and abroad.

Progress toward these noble goals is persistently threatened by the conflict now engulfing the world. It commands our whole attention, absorbs our very beings. We face a hostile ideology global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insiduous [insidious] in method. Unhappily, the danger it poses promises to be of indefinite duration. To meet it successfully, there is called for, not so much the emotional and transitory sacrifices of crisis, but rather those which enable us to carry forward steadily, surely, and without complaint the burdens of a prolonged and complex struggle with liberty the stake. Only thus shall we remain, despite every provocation, on our charted course toward permanent peace and human betterment.

Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in newer elements of our defenses; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research — these and many other possibilities, each possibly promising in itself, may be suggested as the only way to the road we wish to travel.

But each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs, balance between the private and the public economy, balance between the cost and hoped for advantages, balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable, balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual, balance between actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress. Lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration. The record of many decades stands as proof that our people and their Government have, in the main, understood these truths and have responded to them well, in the face of threat and stress.

But threats, new in kind or degree, constantly arise. Of these, I mention two only.

A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction. Our military organization today bears little relation to that known of any of my predecessors in peacetime, or, indeed, by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.

Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense. We have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security alone more than the net income of all United States cooperations — corporations.

Now this conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet, we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources, and livelihood are all involved. So is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades. In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.

Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers. The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present — and is gravely to be regarded.

Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.

It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system — ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society.

Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society’s future, we — you and I, and our government — must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.

During the long lane of the history yet to be written, America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect. Such a confederation must be one of equals. The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength. That table, though scarred by many fast frustrations — past frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of disarmament — of the battlefield.

Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose differences, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose. Because this need is so sharp and apparent, I confess that I lay down my official responsibilities in this field with a definite sense of disappointment. As one who has witnessed the horror and the lingering sadness of war, as one who knows that another war could utterly destroy this civilization which has been so slowly and painfully built over thousands of years, I wish I could say tonight that a lasting peace is in sight.

Happily, I can say that war has been avoided. Steady progress toward our ultimate goal has been made. But so much remains to be done. As a private citizen, I shall never cease to do what little I can to help the world advance along that road.

So, in this, my last good night to you as your President, I thank you for the many opportunities you have given me for public service in war and in peace. I trust in that — in that — in that service you find some things worthy. As for the rest of it, I know you will find ways to improve performance in the future.

You and I, my fellow citizens, need to be strong in our faith that all nations, under God, will reach the goal of peace with justice. May we be ever unswerving in devotion to principle, confident but humble with power, diligent in pursuit of the Nations’ great goals.

To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America’s prayerful and continuing aspiration: We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its few spiritual blessings. Those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibility; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; and that the sources — scourges of poverty, disease, and ignorance will be made [to] disappear from the earth; and that in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love.

Now, on Friday noon, I am to become a private citizen. I am proud to do so. I look forward to it.

Thank you, and good night.

-Dwight D. Eisenhower…… Farewell Address…… delivered 17 January 1961

(This is an edited version, please read and hear the full text speech easily available online.)

Comment on November 15, 2008 02:27 pm
48. liam

umm, Actually Jews are not the only Semites. Arabs and Maltese are Semites too. So, does that mean Israel is Anti-semetic? Bush def is…..

Comment on November 17, 2008 12:28 am
49. liam

Oh, and pls provide a definite reference to actually existing WMDs found in Iraq pls. I have read fairly significantly on the subject and I worked for a brief spell at the UN, and I’m pretty sure that’s horseshit (Oh and finding some shells that “may” have be able to fire WMD loads doesn’t count, as frankly loading them on a tissue and waving it at the enemy would count, in that case. No serious, intelligent WMD specialist considers the US’s claims serious) Oh, and fro books that debunk WMD’s, try Legacy of Ashes, Curveball, State of Denial as starters.

Comment on November 17, 2008 12:32 am
50. rolamante

“Defense is a proper function of government. Playing doctor is not.”=
Whoever you are, you should be commended on the dashing boldness of your opinions, though not on their foundations in logic or history. The proper function of government, by definition, is to protect and promote the vitality of its nationstate. And while, yes, this includes defense from external attacks, it also includes providing for the health and well-being of its citizens. Arguments divide into several camps over how this is best done, but civilization wouldn’t have made it much past feudalism if more the general populace were left to fend for themselves against injury, disease, and starvation. The ability of a government to’play doctor’, as you so pithily put it, is in the 21st century, as basic a yardstick of success as its ability to fend off the Huns. People who are more interested in seeing their personal property protected than their nation thrive as a whole often lapse into short-sighted proclamations about the proper role of government, as if there were pre-ordained edicts set down on some tablet from on high; instead of looking at governing systems for what they are- a set of self-preservation guidelines constantly changing to adapt to societal conditions that they in turn help to foster. That is to say, there are no f*cking rules, dude, but it sounds like if you had your way the Black Plague would run rampant over all those who couldn’t afford access to privatized immunization camps yet guarded by the U.S. Marine Corps. If you want your hard-boiled ideology to be universally implemented, then prepare to live in a nation that more closely resembles the ones you claim to despise.

Comment on November 17, 2008 03:10 am
51. tiburon

none…are you blind or what?

There were NO WMD in Iraq, not an operative one; those they found were rusted and useless as well.

Al quaeda means ‘the base’ and was the CIA ID for the rebel troops in Afghanistan, created and supported by US government. NO direct attack, or IRAQ support on terrorism until Bush said ‘BLAME IT ON IRAQ’. That WAS ALL A FAKE! created and inflated by your (and i mean your pointing you my dear) government.

Just read some newspapers…plz

Comment on November 17, 2008 07:10 am

Brilliant involved satire, really appreciate it.

Comment on November 17, 2008 05:06 pm
53. andrew

To Ilya: A kak ty dumaesh mozhno nazvat’ naciyu, kotoraya vybrala by putina na tretiy?

Comment on November 18, 2008 10:40 am
54. nyt

excellent

Comment on November 18, 2008 11:16 am
55. Cowboy

WMD’s in the middle east are located in Dimona among other places. Today the U.N. has responded to the human rights violations Israel is perpetrating on the citizens of Gaza. International human rights activists have been arrested among others, including 2 Americans. Allowing Israel to have undisclosed WMD’s and looking for WMD’s in other countries, coincidently the enemies of Israel, makes nuclear talks in the middle east very difficult. In addition Israel has submarines and submarines are the means to carry out something like the “Samson Option.” It’s time for U.N. resolution 181 to become reality. There is a consensus that much of the WMD “information” came from Israeli “intelligence”…happily delivered to the U.S. via Lieberman, everyone’s favorite Democrat, and Wolfowitz, the Neocon golden boy and follower of Leo Strauss. “Many neoconservatives like Paul Wolfowitz are disciples of Strauss who believed that the elite should use deception, religious fervor and perpetual war to control the ignorant masses.” Sounds just like what’s going on now huh? If wars keep going then all the tax money taken away from health care and schools etc., etc., is funneled to the war machine here, same with our “ally” Israel. If there is peace the cash flow for military puposes will be reduced considerably, ideally. Then there will be no vehicle to transfer public funds to private hands via Halliburton and Blackwater, etc. War is big business and peace isn’t good for it.

Comment on November 18, 2008 01:52 pm
56. CM

Possibly the most inane, meaningless, self-righteous and pointless drivel I’ve ever read. “The Onion” is funny and insightful. This is just arrogant bombast.

Comment on November 18, 2008 09:12 pm
57. Don Krieger

What the fuck is this shit?!?!? Why haven’t we started to burn the niggers!

Comment on November 19, 2008 12:23 am
58. Угадайстрёхраз

Вперёд,Обама! Посади Буша в тюрьму! А за одно и Саакашвили!

Comment on November 19, 2008 12:20 pm
59. lol

haha lol

Comment on November 19, 2008 10:23 pm

Ah, yes the WMD.

treason, n.
1. the betrayal of one’s country by waging war against it or by consciously and purposely acting to aid its enemies.
2. A betrayal of trust or confidence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7WTL9RFCOg

Comment on November 19, 2008 11:33 pm
66. Dandy

kissi cheetay nein yeh site bunai hai!

Comment on November 21, 2008 01:02 pm
67. Shepherd

I think the comments are even funnier than the article… Who really falls for this stuff? Never mind that the date at the top of the page says “July 4th, 2009″. Yes, Americans do have the ability to time travel, bow to our obvious technological ingenuity, sheeple!

Comment on December 9, 2008 04:02 am
68. Mahone

Duh, what a bunck of nonsense: the infamous “weapons of mass destruction” was never the issue (though Saddam HAD AND USED WMD before — this is beyond even liberal contention); the reason we ‘continuted’ the war because, in direct violation of the armstice from the first Gulf War, Saddam, who was so much of an idiot that he could have ran on the democrat ticket in America, would not allow UN inspectors to come in an verify he weapons developement, etc. The stupid Bush administration allowed the democrats in the US, aided and abetted by the media, to shout over and over (as Gobbels Great Lie technique did) until every dufus in America now parrots this as the reason we went over. What a bunch of fools. You deserve Chairman O.

Comment on December 19, 2008 10:56 am
69. BDelsol

I have quit Haliburton my job to make Abu Ghraib myself available impeach Cheney to be war criminals on the jury to lying liar convict the Bushitler monkey man who idiot gave me a weird form of stole election tourette’s. But now that Obama will pay for my mortgage and gas I don’t need a job anyway. Failed, failed, failed policies.

Comment on December 19, 2008 11:59 am
70. Rick Knee in San Francisco

Hey, Frank, you misspelled Condoleezza. My copy-editing rates are quite reasonable.

Comment on December 19, 2008 09:32 pm
71. Hobison Bolt

mahone, Saddam did allow the weapons inspectors in to verify that he had no WMDs.

Comment on January 24, 2009 12:15 am
72. Not

Not Funny to get my hopes up than dash them to the ground =(

Comment on January 31, 2009 12:10 am
73. moraloutrage

So we just casually admit to an illegal war, an unprovoked attack on an unarmed country thrown into total chaos and anarchy despite an occupiers responsibility to secure order, jsut a bit of untidy democracy with growing pains. And the soldiers still dying went there for what reason then?? And Cheney said “we know they have WMD’s and we know where they are” as he casually takes the gloves of civilization off and goes for the dark side. I don’t think many people are going to see this as funny anymore. Bring the troops home NOW!!!

Comment on March 25, 2009 07:55 pm

Interesting site, but much advertisments on him. Shall read as subscription, rss.

Comment on May 26, 2009 05:55 pm
(required)
(will not be published) (required)
(opitional)