Bush's Visit to Wisconsin and the War in Iraq

Well, President Bush is making several stops in Wisconsin today in order to rally his base and make an effort to maximize the turnout in this hotly contested state. Wisconsin, along with Michigan and Minnesota, is a potential swing state in the upcoming election. Bush narrowly lost this state in 2000 to former Veep Gore. Shifting topics a bit, the Bush-bashing and repeated anti-war critics who claim Bush deceived this country into war is reaching ridiculous levels. I'm sick of most of Hollywood's celebrities denouncing Bush and his administration for everything imaginable meanwhile claiming that Bush is out of touch with the American public. First off, Hollywood couldn't be farther out of touch with the average American with their multi-million dollar mansions as well as luxury items that would cost an average person 2-3 years salary to buy. But that is all beside the point, the main problem is those who STILL insist Bush lied to the country in order to proceed into a war for oil. These people (including Michael Moore) are oblivious to recent reports from the Senate Intelligence Committee that clear President Bush of any wrongdoing. Rather than willfully lying to the public, Bush was unfortunately repeating dubious information that had been gathered by the shoddy workmanship of the CIA. The report also noted that there was no pressure from the Bush administration to "coerce, influence or pressure analysts to change their judgments related to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capabilities" (Senate Report) as well as link Iraq to al-Qaida. Remember those 16 words in Bush's 2003 State of the Union address? ("The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.") Sad to say most of the media has bypassed the current revelations surrounding the matter. Apparently, the CIA consultant Joseph Wilson who visited Niger in 2002 and vehemently denied Bush's claim lied in doing so. The Senate report says that when Wilson returned from that trip he brought no information to cast doubt on the 16 words. In fact, a recent report from the Financial Times showed European intelligence sources confirming that Hussein DID discuss purchasing the uranium with smugglers in Niger. The CIA had a difficult task in trying to determine what was reliable information and what wasn't surrounding going to war with Iraq. What the CIA believed about Hussein's capabilities in WMD's production was widely believed by every other intelligence source in the world. Hussein also didn't help by trying to convince the world otherwise, in fact he did the opposite by resisting inspections to prove he had nothing. The point here is this: In September 2001, we were attacked on our soil by terrorists that took the lives of 3,000+ people. The intelligence that had been gathering over the years suggested that Hussein was building up WMD's to increase his stockpile of biological and chemical weapons. Hussein had used these weapons before in killing millions in his own country. With the intelligence coming forth into Bush's hands should we have hoped that the information was wrong and that Bush should have just ignored the intelligence? If he did bypass the intelligence and another attack occurred on U.S. soil people would be calling for his head (although some have done that already)! They would cite these same sources Bush had used to justify war based on mounting intelligence that was at his fingertips! The president has to make tough decisions every day and too often we take those decisions for granted. In this post-9-11 world, preemptive strikes have become necessary in order to combat would-be terrorists who seek to destroy life for the innocent here and abroad due to a hatred for the freedoms our country as well as countries across the world possess.