Celebrating Dunces

With Iraq caught in throes of possible disintegration it is time to look at what some notable dunces once forecasted:

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“The greatest thing to come out of [invading Iraq] for the world economy ... would be $20 a barrel for oil.” Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corporation (which owns Fox News), February 2003

“Oil Touches Record $78 on Mideast Conflict.” Headline on www.foxnews.com, July 14, 2006

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“My fellow citizens, not only can we win the war in Iraq, we are winning the war in Iraq.” President Bush, Dec. 18, 2005

“I think I would answer that by telling you I don’t think we’re losing.” Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, when asked whether we’re winning in Iraq, July 14, 2006

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“Regime change in Iraq would bring about a number of benefits for the region. ...Extremists in the region would have to rethink their strategy of jihad. Moderates throughout the region would take heart, and our ability to advance the Israeli-Palestinian peace process would be enhanced.” Vice President Dick Cheney, Aug. 26, 2002

“Bush — The world is coming unglued before his eyes. His naïve dreams are a Wilsonian disaster.” Newsweek Conventional Wisdom Watch, July 24, 2006 edition

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“Peacekeeping requirements in Iraq might be much lower than historical experience in the Balkans suggests. There’s been none of the record in Iraq of ethnic militias fighting one another that produced so much bloodshed and permanent scars in Bosnia.” Paul Wolfowitz, deputy secretary of defense and now president of the World Bank, Feb. 27, 2003

“West Baghdad is no stranger to bombings and killings, but in the past few days all restraint has vanished in an orgy of ‘ethnic cleansing.’ Shia gunmen are seeking to drive out the once-dominant Sunni minority and the Sunnis are forming neighborhood posses to retaliate. Mosques are being attacked. Scores of innocent civilians have been killed, their bodies left lying in the streets.” The Times of London, July 14, 2006

(Courtesy: Paul Krugman, NYT columnist)

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Right now large sections of the Middle East are exploding before our very eyes. Would that have been the case if the US not launched its pre-emptive war against Iraq?

And now following the US’s disastrous example Israel’s has opted to do the same in Lebanon…

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Seeing as we are on the topic of dunces, I wonder how many of you are aware of George W. Bush’s recent utterances which were caught on a live microphone. On this occasion he happened to be talking to his acolyte Tony Blair at the latest G8 meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The most 'enlightened' comment was Bush's solution to settling the current violence in Lebanon:

Bush: You see, the ... thing is what they need to do is to get Syria, to get Hizbollah to stop doing this shit and it's over.

Other revealing moments include Bush greeting the UK prime minister with the words "Yo Blair!" and calling Bashir Assad, the Syrian dictator, "Bashad".

(You can read the full transcript at this Sky News blogsite )

Bush
Rupert Murdoch
Cheney