Bush & Obama: Who Lied?

By Rev. Wayne Perryman

August 10, 2009

When Obama campaigned for the office of the President of the United States, he emphasized that Bush had lied about the weapons of mass destruction and he went on to make several promises from bringing our troops home within 16 months to improving our image overseas. Did he keep his promises? And did Bush lie? Let’s take a look.

A Promise of Bi-partisanship

Obama promised that he would consider other points of view in his decision making and welcomed bi-partisanship participation. Even though he made this promise, he has consistently ignored the input of Conservatives from the beginning. He started by ignoring the Conservatives’ position on abortions and signed a Bill to provide millions to fund abortions overseas. He is currently ignoring the input of Conservatives on Health Care. Experts say the current proposed Health Care Plan includes more government funds to fund abortions here at home. Did Obama lie about welcoming bi-partisan in-put or did he mean that he only wanted bi-partisanship if they agreed with him?

Promises in Bringing the Troops Home

Throughout his campaign Senator Obama said he would begin troop withdrawal immediately and have all troops out of Iraq within 16 months. There has been no significant troop withdrawal since he has taken office and he has now changed his mind and said all troops will be out by December 2011, the same date that President Bush had agreed to have all troops out when he signed an agreement with Iraq in November. Did Obama lie, or was he just un-informed?

Promises In Foreign Policy

During the campaign Obama said in the first year of his administration, he would meet with five foreign leaders to improve relations with the U.S. (Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea). He went on to say that he would meet with the leader of Iran with no pre-conditions, that he would use diplomacy to stop North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, and that he would improve the image of America around the world. As of August 10, 2009, he has not met one-on-one with any of these leaders nor has he scheduled meetings with them.

The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran has already denounced Obama’s “gesture of reconciliation, as a trick” while President Ahmadinejad, told Obama that he will continue Iran’s nuclear program and after recent protests over their elections, Ahmadinejad warned Obama not to “interfere in Iran’s affairs.”

Under President Obama, the six-party-talks involving North Korea, Russia, China, Japan South Korea, and th e United States were discontinued when Kim Jong ignored Obama’s diplomatic efforts and continued to test his long-range missiles, while re-affirming his commitment to build nuclear weapons. These talks were started by the Bush administration.

It was Raul Castro, not Barack Obama that set pre-conditions for possible dialogue between Cuba and the U.S. when he sent the following message to the Obama administration, “We are ready to discuss everything, but not to negotiate over our political or social systems…. I was chosen to defend, maintain and continue to perfect socialism, not destroy it.”

Hugo Chavez of Venezuela accused the Obama Administration of backing the coup in Honduras and expressed outrage when Obama’s Democratic Congress released a report accusing the Chavez administration of corruption by supporting cocaine trafficki ng through Venezuela. Chevez said, “Obama’s mask is falling” and stated that the United States’ plan for providing extra military help for Colombia’s conservative government is a threat to Venezuela and its neighbors in the Andean region.

Obama’s popularity around the world was not reflected in their response to his appeal for more troops in Afghanistan. Only handful of countries agreed to send more troops to Afghanistan, but the number of troops pledged was only a fraction of the troops that he said was needed.

When it came to foreign policy, Obama found out that he was not as popular as he thought, particularly among those leaders of rouge states. Did Obama lie about what he claimed he would accomplish in the area of foreign policy, or was he just uninformed?

Closing Guantanamo Bay

Obama promised to close Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo) within a year. But as of August 10, 2009, he has not found a place to put the prisoners. Being faced with the same dilemma that the Bush Administration faced, when the Bush administration wanted to close the prison, Obama decided that he needed a comprehensive plan before he could proceed. This plan is due on January 22, 2010, the date that he had boasted that the prison would be closed. In June of 2006 (almost three years before Obama took office), President Bush reiterated his desire to close Gitmo, and explained the reasons why it would be difficult to do so. The Obama administration knew of the problems that Bush administration faced in their efforts to close this facility but ignore them. They also refused to acknowledge that the Bush administration had decided to close the prison, three years before Obama promised to do so. Did Obama lie about closing Gitmo within a year, or was he just uninformed?

Promises Of Transparency

Senator Obama promised “Transparency,” transparency that would include granting the press permission to sit in on previously closed door meetings, and a pledge to post all Bills on a White House website for public review before signing such legislation. Obama failed to keep these promises. In addition to keeping the press out certain meetings and conspiring to know in advance what questions certain members of the press would ask, the president signed many pieces of legislation without posting the Bills on the website and he tried to push through the massive Health Care Reform Bill before the Congressional August recess, without giving anyone anytime to read it. Did Obama lie about transparency, or did he just forget what he had promised?

Obama Promised No Earmarks

Senator Obama promised not to sign any bills with earmarks, but he signed the massive Stimulus Bill that had an estimated 8,000 earmarks. Did Obama lie, or did he not know there were earmarks in the Bill?

Obama Promised No Lobbyist

During his campaign, Senator Obama was adamant about lobbyist and former lobbyist being a part of his administration. But that soon changed after he became president. Watchdog organizations now list over 65 persons who were either registered lobbyists at one time or had strong ties to lobbyist who are currently serving in the Obama administration. Did Obama lie about lobbyist serving in his administration, or is it that he is totally unaware of the background of those who are serving in his administration?

Claims That he Inherited the Problems

Obama often claims that he inherited the problems that our nation is currently facing. But he fails to acknowledge that as a member of Congress, (the legislative branch of the government) he is partially responsible for the problems. At no time did he sponsor, co-sponsor or submit legislation to stop sub-prime lending, speculation on Wallstreet, or to improve health care. The records will show that he was one of the Senators that met with George Bush privately (during the campaign) to approve the first stimulus plan. He not only approved the plan, he used his influence to get other Democrats to vote for it as well. Is he being disingenuous about inheriting this problem or is he just covering up for not doing his job as Senator?

Promise To Create and Save Three Million Jobs

During the early stages of his campaign, Senator Obama boasted that he would create three million jobs, later he changed the pledge and promised to “create and save three million jobs.” He claimed that his Stimulus Package would have an immediate impact. Since passing the Stimulus Package, several million persons have lost their jobs, unemployment has increased dramatically and no one can point to one job that was specifically saved or created by the “Stimulus.” Did he lie, or did he really feel that he could save and create that many jobs?

Was Obama Right? Did Bush Lie About Weapon of Mass Destruction?

Did President Bush lie about the “weapons of mass destruction,” or was he merely repeating what was told to him by the Clinton Administration? This is the speech that President Clinton delivered on December 16, 1998 regarding weapons of mass destruction, almost three years before Bush became President. Clinton told Americans:

“Earlier today, I ordered America’s armed forces to strike military and security targets in Iraq. They are joined by British forces. Their mission is to attack Iraq’s nuclear, chemical and biological weapons program and its military capacity to threaten its neighbors….

The hard fact is that so long as Saddam remains in power, he threatens the well being of his people, the peace of his region and the security of the world. The best way to end that threat onc e and for all is with a new Iraqi government – a government to live in peace with its neighbors, a government that respects the rights of its people….

If we turn out backs on his defiance, the credibility of the U.S. power as a check against Saddam will be destroyed. We will not only have allowed Saddam to shatter the inspection system that controls his weapons of mass destruction program; we also will have fatally undercut the fear of force that stops Saddam from acting to gain domination in the region.

…We must be prepared to use force again if Saddam takes threatening action, such as trying to reconstitute his weapons of mass destruction or their delivery systems, threatening his neighbors, challenging allied aircraft over Iraq, or moving against the Kurdish citizens

Now tell me who lied