Hello Class,
President Bush argued that Congress should grant the United States military the go-
ahead to enforce military action on Saddam Hussein and his regime in Iraq. He stated that they were building Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), biological weapons, and chemical weapons like poison gases. He also stated that Hussein was a potential link between Iraq and international terrorism, particularly al-Qaeda. While acknowledging that direct evidence of Iraqi involvement in the 9/11 attacks was lacking, he suggested a broader connection between Iraq and terrorist networks. President Bush supports his claims with “facts” that turned out to not all be true in the end. Overall, Bush's address on October 7, 2002, played a crucial role in shaping public opinion and garnering support for military action against Iraq. However, the subsequent invasion faced criticism when WMDs were not found, leading to debates
about the legitimacy and accuracy of the pre-war intelligence. Koehler, on the other hand, disagreed and in many ways dismantled President Bush’s rhetoric in his address to Congress. In Koehler’s opinion, there had to be a better way of going about determining whether the sovereign nation of Iraq had and/or was building WMD. Hard evidence needed to be presented other than claiming the aluminum tubes for nuclear weapons when they were actually rocket shell casings. Koehler goes on to say that false dilemma, argument from ignorance, slippery slope, and ad hominem were all used in Bush’s address. While he agrees that Hussein is a murderous and evil man, he says that the President reiterating a widely shared opinion does not mean that Hussein is a threat to the world. I believe that Koehler has the stronger argument. Specific instances in Bush’s address were proven to be false or a stretch of the truth. At one point in the speech,
the rush to wage war with Iraq was justified by the slippery slope of Iraq creating these nuclear weapons and providing them to terrorists. That is an obvious “nope” situation but, the possibility of that coming to life does not justify going to war with them. Thanks,
Michael
References
Koehler, D. (2022, December 21). Fallacies and war: Misleading a nervous america to the wrong conclusion. Common Dreams. https://www.commondreams.org/views/2008/02/28/fallacies-and-war-misleading-
nervous-america-wrong-conclusion The White House. (2002, October 7). President Bush Outlines Iraqi Threat. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB80/new/doc%2012/President%20Bush
%20Outlines%20Iraqi%20Threat.htm
