War Politics Quotes
Bush assumes that this meant that all the people agreed with his decision to invade Iraq. While that might have been the case, there are other possibilities that many historians, journalists and other analysts have suggested. The Vice President, and his personal staff, were known to have visited them all and lobbied for the invasion. They pressured several of them who may have not wanted to run afoul of what seemed to be the most powerful vice president in American History. Or they may have thought that the decision had already been made, and it was time to join together and loyally support the policy decision that had been made. There were few strong independent thinkers in the top tier as Bush was not intellectually or emotionally inclined to have open staff arguments to work out a policy or very strong advisors with different points of view. The strongest of the advisors like Secretary of State Colin Powell had been lied to and persuaded there was “clear evidence” that Iraq was about to deploy a nuclear weapon. This made Powell an advocate. The intelligence given to Powell and the others was wrong and much was fabricated or obtained from an unreliable source who had been pushed as trustworthy by the Vice President. The CIA Director, had told those all that the evidence and case for the fact that Iraq was developing and close to deploying a nuclear weapon was a “slam dunk”.
The America First Committee consisted of right wing Americans who admired the fascist states of Nazi Germany and Italy. They were very anti-English and wanted the USA to have an alliance with Hitler against England and above all to not support England in the Second World War. Once Hitler declared war on the United States, the absurdity and danger of the American First groups became clear. A few changed their minds, but most remained ultra right wing fascists. They were a public group and under surveillance by the FBI so they never participated in any sabotage or successful spying for the enemy. Ironically, the organization with the most patriotic sounding name was so disloyal and in support of those who warred on America. Great Britain had an equivalent organization arguing for England to support Germany and let Hitler control Europe.
