Installment Four: Mr. Bush on the Stand
Vincent Bugliosi’s Prosecution of President Bush For Murder
All analysis is based on Vincent Bugliosi’s The Prosecution of George W. Bush For Murder,
“If justice means anything in America, and if we’re not going to forget the thousands of young American soldiers in their graves whom Bush deceived into thinking they were fighting for America against an enemy that had attacked us, and if we want to deter any future president as monstrous as Bush from doing the same horrendous thing, I say we have no choice but to bring murder charges against the son of privilege from Crawford, Texas.”
Cross-examination Part I.
Bugliosi: On the evening of 10-7-2002, in a nationally televised speech, did you tell the nation that Iraq had "unmanned drones armed w/ WMDs for missions targeting the US?”
Bush: Yes
Bugliosi: Are you aware of a letter dated 10-7-2002 from George Tenet and signed by John McLaughlin which stated that Iraq was not an imminent threat to the US?
Bush: I don’t recall.
Bugliosi: Are you the boss of the CIA?
Bush: Yes.
Bugliosi: Did the CIA, in its daily morning briefings of you up to that point, had given you this same position (that Iraq was not an imminent threat to the US)?
Bush: I don’t recall.
Bugliosi: You don’t recall even though as a matter of fact you were briefed daily by the CIA as to Iraq. Yet you told the nation the exact opposite of the CIA’s assessment of Iraq’s threat?
Bush: Yes.
Bugliosi: Upon what intelligence agency were you relying in your speech to the nation 10-7-2002 when you suggested to everyone that Iraq was an imminent threat to the USA?
Bush: Everyone believed Iraq posed a threat to the US.
Bugliosi: In other words, Mr. Bush, you made this whole thing up yourself about Hussein and Iraq being an imminent threat to the US?
Bush: No, I didn’t make it up, I believed it.
Bugliosi: So even though no US intelligence agency told you this, and even though no document said this, you still formed the opinion it was true? (that Hussein was an imminent threat to the US)
Bush: Correct.
Bugliosi: Did you tell the American people on the evening of 10-7-2002, that it was merely your opinion that Hussein constituted an imminent threat to the security of this country, and US intelligence agreed with you?
Bush: No
Bugliosi: Why not sir?
Bush: I’m the Decider and I decide.
Bugliosi: Since it was going to be the blood of America’s sons and daughters that was going to be shed in far-off Iraq, not your blood or the blood of your children, don’t you feel the people of this country, in deciding whether to give their support to you for this war, were entitled to know this? (that it was Bush’s opinion and not fact re Iraq’s threat)
Bush: We didn’t want the final proof to come in the form of a mushroom cloud.
Cross-examination Part II.
Bugliosi: Mr. Bush, you have said, and I quote you, that in deciding whether or not to go to war in Iraq, “I’ll be making up my mind based upon the latest intelligence.” Was that a true statement?
Bush: Yes.
Bugliosi: Just for purposes of clarification, when you said ‘intelligence’ you were referring to US Intelligence agencies, like the CIA, whose job it was to furnish you with the best and latest intelligence they had gathered on the issue of whether Hussein was a threat to the security of the country, is that correct?
Bush: Yes, of course.
Bugliosi: Now you have a reputation for not liking to read long reports, including intelligence reports. Is that a reputation you feel you have earned?
Bush: Well, I’ll tell you, it’s partially true. The job of president is a hard one with lots of hard work…busy work, you know, and I like to get to the heart of a problem as quickly as I can.
Bugliosi: So as I’ve read, you prefer to read summaries of these long reports, is that true?
Bush: Yes, but if the report is important enough, I’ll read the whole report.
Bugliosi: Would you agree that the war in Iraq, for good or for bad, has defined your presidency more than any other single issue?
Bush: Yes, our country’s safety is my most important duty.
Bugliosi: Did you, in fact, read the 91 page report which concluded Hussein was not an imminent threat to the US?
Bush: No, I don’t think I did. It’s hard to remember after all this time.
Bugliosi: But I take it you at least read the five-page summary of this report?
Bush: I don’t recall. I don’t think so.
Bugliosi: Mr. Bush, I show you People’s exhibit number 101, the ninety-one page report sent to your office on October 1, 2002, which represents the conclusions of sixteen US Intelligence agencies on Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction, and the danger, if any, that Hussein posed to America. Pages 5 through 9 contain the summary of the report called ‘Key Judgments.’ Turning to page 8, I want to read to you the most important of the Key Judgments.
(Bugliosi reads the report’s judgment that Hussein would only attack the US if he feared the US was about to attack his country first, i.e., he would only attack in self-defense from us.)
Bugliosi: Mr. Bush, would you tell this jury if you read these same words when the report was sent to you, or had someone else read them to you or summarize their essence for you?
Bush: No.
Bugliosi: So even though you were the president of the United States, you never bothered to read even a summary of this extremely important report, were not informed of it by your national security advisor Condoleezza Rice or anyone else, and had absolutely no idea that the sixteen US intelligence agencies under your command all agreed that Iraq did not pose an imminent threat to this country, is that correct, sir?
Bush: I believe I was told of that Key Judgment on page 8.
Bugliosi: Mr. Bush, the report explicitly says that Hussein would not attempt to attack the USA unless he feared an attack by us on his country and he thought the attack was imminent. I ask you, sir. Being in possession of this information from 16 US intelligence agencies, the very people you admit you relied upon in making your decision whether to go to war, how could you possibly tell the American people just six days later in Cincinnati the exact opposite that unless we stopped Hussein first, he was an urgent and great danger to our nation? How could you do this sir? Please tell the jury.
Bush: I did not want the final proof to be a mushroom cloud.
Bugliosi: Mr. Bush, at the time you ordered this nation’s military forces to invade Iraq on March 19, 2003, did you believe that Hussein constituted an imminent threat to the security of this nation?
Bush: No, I never said Hussein was an ‘imminent threat.’
Bugliosi: Do you think the words you did use: ‘a threat of unique urgency,’ attack ‘on any given day,’ ‘Iraq could launch a biological or chemical attack in as little as 45 minutes,’ etc. were the equivalent of the meaning of imminent.
Bush: I don’t think so.
Bugliosi: Mr. Bush, you have always said that you didn’t want to go to war, that war was a last resort, is that correct?
Bush: Yes it is.
Bugliosi: If this is so, when Hans Blix, the UN’s chief weapons inspector, testified before the UN on March 7, 2003, that he and his inspectors were being given complete cooperation by Hussein and they were “able to perform professional no-notice inspections all over Iraq” and thus far they couldn’t find any WMDs in Iraq but requested a few more months to confirm their tentative findings, why, sir, did you proceed to refuse this request, boot Blix and his people out of Iraq, and proceed to war in less than two weeks?
Bush: I wanted to strike Hussein before he attacked America.
Bugliosi: But if you actually believed that, sir, and had this fear of Iraq, why in the world did you propose, at your January 31, 2003 meeting with Prime Minister Tony Blair in the Oval Office that America and Britain should try to provoke Hussein into a war?
Do remember Mr. Bush, we can call Blair and his three aids—including David Manning who wrote the memo quoting Bush on provoking Hussein--to the stand to verify your answer.
Bush: I really don’t recall.
