ABC News decided to survey the views of the senators who served in 2002, most of whom remain in the Senate. The survey indicates that those senators say that if they knew then what they know now, President Bush would never have been given the authority to use force in Iraq.
read more ...
Why do I have a problem with "if they knew then what they know now"? Because they had access to the same sources of information and more than the many people who objected to this war from before we invaded Iraq, and yet they chose to go along with it. Some members of Congress have apologized. Many have not. The Bush administration flat out lied about the threat posed by Iraq, something which has been substantiated in numerous documents. But every single member of Congress who now regrets giving Bush the authority to attack Iraq could have done basic research and objected then. It was all there -- no WMD, no plan, no nothing except perpetual war. And those same senators and representatives continued to give Bush more war funding, even as it became clear that the war was based on a series of lies.
No, there are no excuses. And no way to bring back the lives lost or to undo the destruction of both Iraq's and our economy, the pillaging of Iraq's national library, the unleashing of deeper anti-U.S. sentiments throughout the world ... and on and on and on.
But the new Congress could start by apologizing and making some substantial moves to show their remorse.
6 comments:
I don't actually have anything to say, I just wanted to be the first person to post a comment. But seriously, when our elected officials whip out that "If I knew then..." line, I can only assume that they are either lying or else too lazy or stupid to have looked further than the Bush administration's claims. There was a TON of information available at the time that refuted the White House claims of WMD, connections to Al Qaeda, greeting US forces with flowers, etc, etc. and it was not very difficult to find this information, either. At least, it didn't seem to be very elusive for the foreign press. As a result, I, for one, don't find those "If I knew then..." claims to be very credible.
...and to anyone who knows us who might be wondering -- Ed and I actually do talk to each other face to face too.
I really don't want to know this crap right now, 3,000 American deaths later, 100,000+ Iraqi deaths later, decades worth of damage done to Iraq and to our country later. WE out here in the heartland heard what they were saying, and we didn't buy it then, and we're still not buying it.
Their gutlessness cost us, big time. They wouldn't stand up to Bush, Rove, and Cheney because they were afraid of the smear machine. And it's still costing us now.
The list for the Create a Connection Mug Swap will be posted tomorrow (Monday)--don't forget to check the list! :)
I'm glad you're participating!
Jessie
I've been in complete shock since the day that Bush won (by default) the first election...and then, (horrors and shame on the US public), he won again!!
What has become of our nation that we can stand by and let a dry-drunk scoundrel like he is lead the way? It has all become a big dirty game and I pray the tide has turned.
Ginnie: Oh, would I like to think so. I was thinking today about how quickly my blogging turned to cynicism and gloom, and I'm turning over some thoughts about hope in dark times. I have a book called The Impossible Will Take A Little While, and I sometimes just open it up to whatever essay I find and read it.
Thank you for you comments!
Post a Comment