In other words: A discussion of The Bush Administration
I just emailed this to my representative:
An open letter to Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R NJ),
Thank you for your reply to my email about the intelligence “failures” that led up to the Iraqi war, though I disagree with your positions, I was gratified that the elected official representing my district took the time to reply.
The fact that you replied means that you understand that this is an issue important to the people of your district. It is an issue important to all Americans. Americans are loyal to its troops and whether they may or may not support the actions they have been sent on, they want to make sure our troops not only come home safe, but also are fighting (and dying) for a just cause and a cause that protects America in the long run. The inability to find weapons of mass destruction is a sign that this war may have done just the opposite.
If our and the British intelligence was correct, one can assume these weapons are now in the hands of terrorists. Many of the sites we inspected had been looted, though one pities any locals who carried home dangerous chemicals or radioactive materials, the alternative that they are now in the hands of terrorists is even more pitiful and frightening. The British parliament recently published a report on how the Iraqi war may have strengthened al Quida by shifting intelligence and diplomatic efforts to supporting the war against Iraq and not against al Quida and Bin Laden. The CIA itself issued a report before the war warning that war with Iraq would allow terrorists access to weapons of mass destruction they would not have access to otherwise.
I join you in hoping we do find such weapons, not because it means the Bush has been vindicated, but because it will mean America is a safer nation, and the weapons have not fallen into the hands of terrorists.
That is why we need to know if and how much our nations intelligence was distorted by political demands. The need for an accurate intelligence picture of the state of American security strongly outweighs any loyalty to a party. No matter how long a member of congress has been a Republican or a Democrat, they were an American first, and I join you in hoping for an investigation into the intelligence failures that is not encumbered by partisan politics.
I was deeply troubled, however, by how you began your closing paragraph: “Iraq’s prewar posture of bluff and bluster, denial and deception justified U.S. intervention, whether or not WMD were readily available to the regime.” That is appalling. Are the lives of our soldiers (not to mention the cost to the national budget) worth so little, that they can be sacrificed because an idiot rules another nation. That would seem to mean that the roster of nations that justify U.S. intervention numbers at least a dozen. North Korea definitely seems to meet your requirement for intervention, and they do have WMD’s readily available, but there seems to be little concern about them from the Executive Branch. With this new justification, I assume our troops are ready to invade Equatorial Guinea whose President recently had its state radio declare that “He [President Teodoro Obiang Nguema] can decide to kill without anyone calling him to account and without going to hell because it is God himself.” Surely a declaration of divinity equates to bluff and bluster, denial and deception.
This new justification is also out of the purview of H.J. Res. 114, which authorized the use of US forces against Iraq. This resolution (though in my mind being a very pathetic piece of legislation as it is nothing but an abdication of a constitutionally required duty: Only Congress shall declare war. There is no section of the constitution that says “only congress can give the power of the president to declare war”) does not mention bluff or bluster. Would the average American have supported the war if this was the justification before hand? Would the citizens of the 11th District of New Jersey?
H.J. Res. 114 does mention however “Whereas members of al Qaida, an organization bearing responsibility for attacks on the United States, its citizens, and interests, including the attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, are known to be in Iraq.” Interestingly enough the only verified report of al Qaida in Iraq has been in the area controlled by the Turks. An area, quite frankly, we had more jurisdiction over than Saddam.
It also states “Whereas the efforts of international weapons inspectors, United States intelligence agencies, and Iraqi defectors led to the discovery that Iraq had large stockpiles of chemical weapons and a large scale biological weapons program, and that Iraq had an advanced nuclear weapons development program that was much closer to producing a nuclear weapon than intelligence reporting had previously indicated.”
So suddenly intelligence reporting shows that Iraq has a nuclear weapons program much closer than previous intelligence had indicated. When did this change in intelligence occur? When Vice President Cheney started making daily visits to the CIA? Did this new intelligence include the Niger Yellow Cake documents?
As I write this the Iraqi war has already cost:
80 Billion Dollars and counting
263 American Soldiers and counting
Estimates of up to a billion dollars in additional expenditures each week
Thousands of Iraqi civilians
Our international reputation
That is why we need to investigate the intelligence “failures.” Americans need to know why we are paying such a high price. We need to know why we went to war.
I recommend you visit this web site every day: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/, it is a tragic reminder of the true cost of this “intervention.” These people did not sign up to fight “Bluff and Bluster” they signed up to fight for America’s continued safety and freedom. This war might have put both at risk.
- rob 3:58 PM - [PermaLink] -
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