Wednesday, May 19, 2021

No, Actually It Is Both, Willis

As per a 5/12/2021 post by Libertarian Dotard-defending blogger Willis Hart, Dotard Donald never defended torture or the Iraq war.

Clearly this BS is in response to Liz Cheney telling the truth about Dotard Donald losing the 2020 election. Either Willis believes the Big Lie that Joe Biden cheated, or he just doesn't like that the Left is applauding Liz Cheney for telling the truth (even though the Left otherwise disagrees with 100% of Liz Cheney's political positions).

That's aside from the fact that Willis is full of shit. The FACT is that (and I can't believe Willis doesn't remember) Dotard Donald voiced support for waterboarding.

Additionally (in spite of lying about not supporting the Iraq war during the 2016 campaign), Dotard Donald actually did support it.

Fact check: Trump falsely claims, again, to have opposed the invasion of Iraq. Excerpt from a 10/29/2019 CNN article by Daniel Dale and Andrew Kaczynski.

What Trump actually said before the war

In his 2000 book "The America We Deserve", Trump argued that a military strike on Iraq might be necessary.

Trump wrote that the US still did not know the true status of Iraq's nuclear program. He then wrote, "I'm no warmonger. But the fact is, if we decide a strike against Iraq is necessary, it is madness not to carry the mission to its conclusion. When we don't, we have the worst of all worlds: Iraq remains a threat, and now has more incentive than ever to attack us".

He continued: "Am I being contradictory here, by presenting myself as a deal-maker and then recommending preemptive strikes? I don't think so. There’s nothing really comparable to unleashing a squadron of bombers, but in the world of business sometimes you have to make quick, secret, decisive moves in order to gain a negotiating advantage".

When radio host Howard Stern asked Trump in September 2002 if he is "for invading Iraq", Trump responded, "Yeah, I guess so. I wish the first time it was done correctly".

Trump did not express a firm opinion about the looming war in a Fox interview in January 2003, saying that "either you attack or don't attack" and that President George W. Bush "has either got to do something or not do something, perhaps".

What Trump said during the war

The day after the invasion in March 2003, Trump told Fox: "It looks like a tremendous success from a military standpoint".

Trump started publicly expressing negative or skeptical thoughts about the war shortly after it began. He called the war a "mess" in a brief comment at an Academy Awards after-party later in the week of the invasion. Six months into the war, Trump said, "It wasn't a mistake to fight terrorism and fight it hard, and I guess maybe if I had to do it, I would have fought terrorism but not necessarily Iraq".

Still, Trump did not express definitive opposition in 2003. In a MSNBC appearance in November 2003, he lamented US spending on the war and said that "the question is whether or not we should have been in Iraq in the first place” – but he continued: "I don't think that this president can do anything about that. He is really – he is on a course that has to stay".

In December 2003, Trump told Fox that the war had been "tougher than people thought", but he added, "It just seems to be something that, we are there now, we have to stay, we have to win, otherwise we just won't have the same respect".

It wasn't until more than a year after the invasion that Trump conveyed explicit opposition to the war.

Hmm. I can understand why Willis thinks Dotard actually opposed the war. He's an idiot that believes Dotard's lies. But Dotard never lied about not supporting torture. He was explicit in his support FOR torture.

Also, Willis was (and remains) opposed to waterboarding? I'm not sure. I'd have guessed he'd be for it. Either way, Willis is incorrect in the assertions he makes in his post. Liz Cheney and Dotard Donald both supported torture and the Iraq war. I didn't have to guess, given that I remembered. Clearly the Hartster doesn't remember.

OST #222