Read why we are opposing UMass' decision to award an Honorary Degree to Andrew Card.

Andrew Card is responsible for the lies and distortions that led to the Iraq war and occupation. He is therefore not eligible for an honorary degree which can be awarded only to “persons of great accomplishment and high ethical standards who exemplify the ideals of the University of Massachusetts”.

It is now an undisputed fact that the Bush Administration knowingly and deliberately used lies and distortions to persuade the American public that the invasion and occupation of Iraq was necessary. The two major arguments that were advanced to justify the war were the following: (a) that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction; and (b) that there was a link between the attacks of 9/11 and Iraq. It has now been confirmed by many sources (including George Tenet, Former Director of the CIA) that these were not just “failures of intelligence”, but deliberate falsifications aimed at confusing and scaring American citizens to support an illegal war. An internal memo detailing the minutes of a meeting of Tony Blair top ministers reported that “the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy” by the Bush administration. The resulting illegal war has led to the deaths and injuries of thousands of American soldiers, as well as the deaths of hundreds of thousand of Iraqis. In addition the international reputation of the United States is in tatters, and the world has never been more dangerous. On every single count, the lies and deceptions of the Bush administration regarding the war in Iraq have been globally disastrous.

As President Bush’s Chief of Staff Andrew Card was a founding member of the White House Iraq Group (WHIG) that cherry-picked the evidence and coordinated the propaganda campaign designed to deceive public opinion. This has been confirmed by a wide range of experts - including published work in peer-reviewed journals – as well as government insiders. Awarding an honorary degree to Andrew Card therefore brings great disrepute to the University and makes a mockery of any of its attempts to join the ranks of the top tier research schools in the country. To honor a person who is guilty of such blatant intellectual dishonesty destroys any idea that the University is a serious academic institution committed to basic values of truth and honesty. It tarnishes anyone connected with the University.

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Articles about Andrew Card: 

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