Some lies have a tremendous cost - young lives

Karen Avery for The Reporter wrote:

In a recent letter, frequent Reporter contributor Murray Bass wrote that Democrats are using "lies" to forward their agenda ("Democrats use lies to forward political agenda," The Reporter, Nov. 25). The political party that has been caught "lying" has been the Republican Party.

After all, Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist - whom I believe is soon to be indicted - and former Republican House Majority leader Tom Delay - who has been indicted - are both under investigation for lying about money.

Another indicted Republican is former assistant to Vice President Dick Chaney I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Libby's lies were the most disgusting of all-outing a CIA agent. Treason and lies seem to be rampant in the party that holds absolute power in the House, Senate and White House of the United States. Seems to me that the party that is forwarding its agenda with lies is the GOP.

It does not seem to far for the Republican party to go to. They are caught in several lies and go ahead an accuse the Democratic party of it. Here's a wake up call.

As a reminder to Mr. Bass and all others, Iraq and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, had nothing in common. Osama bin Laden is responsible for 9/11 and the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in return. Linking Iraq and 9/11 is another GOP lie.

By the way, President George W. Bush promised us bin Laden "dead or alive." Why did he redirect our efforts to Iraq?

According to then National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice in the summer of 2001, Iraq was not a threat to its neighbors. No one should be getting talking points from the right-wing media. The president received critical intelligence and information on the reliability of sources that members of Congress were not privy to. Is the letter writer aware of the details of the Presidential Daily Briefing of Sept. 21, 2001? Does he know about the Iraqi insider known as "Curveball" and his lies that the administration bought hook, line and sinker, even after reliable German and Iraqi sources totally dismissed his information? I sincerely doubt it.

This is nothing new. We hear the same lies over and over as if they were gospel. Curveball threw us a curveball. And people still wonder why that was his codename.

President Bush and his administration cherry picked the best information to sell their war, regardless of its veracity, and then steamrolled the press, the public and Congress into an ill advised and dreadfully planned operation.

I also think that some people fail to realize that Democrats have fought in every war and are doing so today. Supporting the troops does not equal goose-stepping to every military action a government executes. Supporting the troops means fully funding veterans benefits. Supporting the troops means ensuring they are sent to war with body armor and Humvees that are armored. Supporting the troops does not and will never mean sending them into a war of choice.

The GOP does not own patriotism, the flag or even God. More than 2,100 U.S. deaths, 15,000 injured and well more than $200 billion spent, and for what? Words have meaning. Lies kill.

The Reporter - Letters