LIMA, Ohio, April 24 -- President Bush today raised the possibility that Saddam Hussein's government destroyed the prohibited chemical and biological weapons that were the justification for the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Well I’m glad that’s over and done with. No more petty debate about whether or not the invasion of Iraq was a just cause. Now we know it wasn’t. Will it matter? Nope, not a damn bit.

Most Americans have already been brainwashed into blindly supporting this administration by the continuous, 24-hour a day information offensive ever since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Some Americans have been so stupefied by the onslaught of propaganda and misinformation that they believe Saddam Hussein, and not Osama Bin Laden (whom we haven’t heard much about lately, but don’t worry I’m sure O.J. is on the case), was responsible for those attacks.

Are Americans morons? No, we’re not. We are however addicted to information, and the more entertaining the better. The average pre-packaged news burst in this microwave-loving, instant gratification crazed country is about 30 seconds long. Slam a few graphics on a few lines from an official (read: carefully tailored) news release, and BAM! you’ve got yourself half a million viewers glued to your channel for the next half an hour. Everybody wins. The government gets its propaganda out, the network gets its advertising dollars, and the advertisers get their captive audience. The current administration knows this – thanks to many years of careful research - and has been carefully manipulating public opinion through the mainstream media for its own profit.

This is just the latest, blatant example of that manipulation. By raising the possibility that the Iraqis destroyed any existing WMDs just before we invaded, President Bush echoes a dubious story that was quietly seeded into the news cycle a couple of days ago that conveyed the same message. That article gave everyone who read it some background so this scripted statement by the President didn't come straight out of left field. More stories about this will be written, although none beyond the editorial pages (who reads those?) will be critical. After a week or two, the possibility that Saddam Hussein’s government destroyed WMDs days before the US invasion will suddenly appear to be historical fact - even though no facts have ever been presented. Within a month – enough time for other gripping stories to capture our collected attentions - many Americans will believe this absurd scenario is actually true. The debate of whether or not the United States was justified in re-writing international doctrine by initiating a pre-emptive strike against a sovereign nation based on a perceived threat – one which has never been proven to exist – will be over. It might as well have never occurred.

I’m afraid for America. Our actions have consequences. We can’t afford to remain a nation of citizens crippled with goldfish memories. If we don’t pay attention, read, watch, listen, learn, and form opinions on our own, then someone else will do it for us.

Sheep have no choice but to be slaughtered.

Labels: George W. Bush, iraq, saddam hussein, wmd