"these men (Franks, Bremer, Tenet), and the man giving the medals out (Bush), should be charged for war crimes, not receiving honors."


advanced the cause of human liberty." Yeah, right! God, people are truly morons if they believe this propaganda.. Urghh...


Bush's Medal of Freedom Recipients Hammered by Left
By Kathleen Rhodes
CNSNews.com Correspondent
December 15, 2004

(CNSNews.com) - The highest honor bestowed on an American citizen, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, was awarded Tuesday to three key individuals involved in the liberation of Iraq, prompting one anti-war activist to call the ceremony "a complete farce," involving "people who carried out an illegal, immoral and unjust war and occupation."

President Bush honored retired four-star general Tommy Franks, former U.S. Ambassador Paul Bremer, who administered the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq and former CIA director George Tenet. But left-wing blogs were buzzing Tuesday afternoon with bitterness.

In an e-mail to CNSNews.com , AiMara Lin, the national office coordinator for the Not In Our Name project, wrote that "these men (Franks, Bremer, Tenet), and the man giving the medals out (Bush), should be charged for war crimes, not receiving honors."

Lin indicated that her organization would continue to oppose what she called the "immoral" actions of the U.S. "Expect a massive outpouring of what people really think of Bush and this illegitimate agenda of war and repression on January 20th, Inauguration Day, when the entire world says NO," Lin wrote.

"We did not give a mandate for this war, and we will continue to fight it. The government doesn't want us to know how many Iraqis or Americans are dying. It's disgusting," she added.

By contrast, President Bush used the White House East Room as the backdrop to praise Franks, Bremer and Tenet for "having played pivotal roles in great events." Their efforts, Bush said, "have made our country more secure and advanced the cause of human liberty."

Tenet served as CIA director for seven years, through the last part of the Clinton administration and the first three-and-a-half years of the Bush administration before resigning in July. "More than three-quarters of al Qaeda key members and associates have been killed or detained, and the majority were stopped as a result of CIA efforts," the president said in praising Tenet.

"Tenet was one of the first to recognize and address the growing threat to America from radical terrorist networks," Bush added. "Immediately after the attacks on September the 11th, George was ready with a plan to strike back at al Qaeda and to topple the Taliban."

The president went on to describe Tenet as "a fine public servant and patriot," whose "tireless efforts have brought justice to America's enemies and greater security to the American people."

Tommy Franks, the general who headed operations in both the Afghan and Iraqi theatres and later endorsed President Bush's re-election campaign, also was credited with "defending the world's security."

Franks "helped liberate more than 50 million people from two of the worst tyrannies in the world," Bush said. He lauded the general's "brilliant strategy" in Afghanistan, which "defeated the Taliban in just a few short weeks." Bush also called Franks' invasion of Iraq the "the longest, fastest armored advance in the history of American warfare.

"One of the highest distinctions of history is to be called a liberator, and Tommy Franks will always carry that title," Bush said.

Bush referred to Bremer, who served on the Homeland Security Advisory Council and oversaw the transition of power in post-war Iraq, as a "seasoned diplomat" who "earned the respect and admiration of Iraqis.

"His silence was essential to reassure Iraqis that the new law was entirely their own. Yet his presence was essential to reassure Iraqis of our coalition's steadfast commitment to their future and their success," Bush said of Bremer.

Bush's honorees, especially Tenet and Bremer, were the target of much criticism while carrying out their jobs related to the war against terrorism. The 9-11 Commission and U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee reports blamed Tenet, in part, for the intelligences failures leading up to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

Tenet's assertion prior to the Iraq war, that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, was also ridiculed when no WMD stockpiles were uncovered. However, documents that CNSNews.com obtained in October from a senior U.S. government official showed that Saddam had purchased anthrax and mustard gas and had extensive ties to the world's most notorious terrorist groups.

Bremer fueled criticism of the Bush administration's pre-war planning in Iraq when he told the Washington Post on Oct. 6 that the United States had paid dearly for "not stopping [the looting] because it established an atmosphere of lawlessness."

Bremer was also widely criticized for disbanding Iraq's defense ministry while holding down the administrator's position at the Coalition Provisional Authority. Monday, Iraqi interim President Ghazi al-Yawar called that decision Bremer's "big mistake."