Bush lied us into a phoney war and we bought it??!!

[Imagevision]

All Senators voted to go to war because of Bush's national security advisor couldn't understand the "PDB" stating ; "Bin Laden to attack within the united states -- Bush then promotes Rice to Secretary of State! How much more patheic does it have to become people??!!

[Imagevision]

1. And a lone woman brings this President down!

[AtomicKitten]

2. Congressfolk said they didn't have the info.

And now it has been leaked that via a directive, they only got info that had been handpicked and screened. Maybe they were telling the truth. But still Paul Wellstone saw through their BS and that makes it impossible to forgive their green-lighting this war.

[Telly Savalas]

7. Over 20 Democratic Senators and a majority of the Democratic House caucus

somehow managed to oppose the Iraq War Resolution despite not having "all the info". If it was just Paul Wellstone, perhaps it would be possible to forgive the war-enablers. The fact that over half of the Democrats in the House and Senate combined could see throw the bullshit demonstrates how transparent it truly was.

[AtomicKitten]

12. correction

What I meant to say is that Paul Wellstone was the only one up for re-election that had the balls to vote no.

[Telly Savalas]

13. In 2002, there were 11 Democratic incumbent candidates in the Senate.

4 of them: Durbin, Levin, Reed, and Wellstone, voted against the IWR.

http://edition.cnn.com/ELECTION/2002/pages/senate/

In 2004, there were 12 Democratic incumbents, 5 of them voted against the IWR: Boxer, Inouye, Mikulski, Wyden, and Feingold.

http://edition.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/senate/full.list/

[Imagevision]

15. Congress didn't have info? that's where the DSM comes into play again!

"Fixed policies around the need to go to war with Iraq"
Bush; " any wmd's over here? - no, maybe behind the couch"

[FloridaPat]

3. Weren't there a few senators that didn't vote for this fraud?

As for them saying the evidence was hand-picked - what about all those letters saying * was a liar, had lied repeatedly, and had planned the war for a long time? What was the big rush to get it done in 3 weeks? The last Ok for an Iraqi invasion took 6 months. They could have waited until after the 2002 election. They could have attacked *. They could have done a lot that they didn't bother. It was pretty obvious after the election what was coming down. Actually it was pretty obvious before. The day after the election the troops started going to Iraq.

Come on people. 20% of us in the US knew * was lying and 90% of the rest of the world. If the senators are that dumb, they should resign and let someone with a brain get elected.

[Telly Savalas]

8. Nearly half of the Democratic Senators...

and ove half of Democratic House members voted against the Iraq War Resolution. I can dig up links to the roll call votes if you'd like.

One of the biggest myths perpetuated at DU is that it was only a tiny handful of Democrats who voted against the IWR. While a lot of the big names were on the wrong side of this issue, the fact remains that more than half of our elected officials tried to stop the war.

[OneTwentyoNine]

10. 29 Dems for,21 against. Look at the genius of Byrd on October 11,2002

Sen. Robert Byrd, D-West Virginia, attempted Thursday to mount a filibuster against the resolution but was cut off on a 75 to 25 vote.

Byrd had argued the resolution amounted to a "blank check" for the White House."This is the Tonkin Gulf resolution all over again," Byrd said. "Let us stop, look and listen. Let us not give this president or any president unchecked power. Remember the Constitution."

Thats a Democrat with GUTS,VISION and BALLS to try and stop these thugs. To bad Daschel and rest of the 29 milque-toast asses voted to help Bush start killing people over BULLSHIT LIES!!

[Donna Zen]

16. A huge myth is correct!

Thanks for posting the actual numbers. Also, it is forgotten that the Democrats controlled the senate at the time. Anyway, many of the senators that voted "yea" were in safe blue seats, and defied their own constituent's opinion at the time.

One day, thinking that somehow the myth about the country pushing these senators into their decision, I went back through the old polling reports. Guess what? The country did not want to go into a unilateral war.

Calling people who refuse to buy this spin "fringe" doesn't change the facts.

[wli]

4. whoever didn't got Wellstoned

In fact, IIRC voting against it is why Wellstone died.

[Imagevision]

5. Wellstone? - kinda reminds me of JFK wanting to end Viet Nam!

JFK got "Wellstoned" and it wasn't by Democrats!

[Telly Savalas]

9. What about these folks?

Akaka (D-HI)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Byrd (D-WV)
Chafee (R-RI)
Conrad (D-ND)
Corzine (D-NJ)
Dayton (D-MN)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Graham (D-FL)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Reed (D-RI)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Wyden (D-OR)

Why weren't they Wellstoned? They all voted against the Iraqi invasion.

[wli]

23. they only needed one for an object lesson

It's not really universal like I suggested.

[Donna Zen]

6. 22 Democratic Senators voted against the resolution

Over half of the Democratics in the House voted against the resolution.

Probably most of congress knew that Iraq did not pose a threat to the US, and knew what bush was up to.

[Imagevision]

17. Dem Senators voted 4 war based on "slamdunks" intel and the

cherry picked intel by Cheney/Rumsfeld

[Telly Savalas]

19. But the point that some of us are making is that...

the Dems who voted for the war chose to blindly accept the cherry picked intel. There was a significant contigent of Democrats who chose to view the intel with a critical eye. A Democratic Senator lacks credibilty when they claim to have been duped by the White House, when their compatriots had the good sense not to be.

[Imagevision]

20. Telly, most valid point the Dem Senators were extremely weak

and now with the DSM out there they continue to alow this story to fade?!!

[kitsykitty]

22. Some gave contingent approval

Remember that when they voted for war it was supposed to be a last resort. If you read the record on the vote, Kerry was very specific about the contingencies he placed on his yes vote.

Also, remember the mood of the nation. After 9-11 the people and Congress were inclined to go along with all of Bush's proposals and were considered "unpatriotic" if they didn't. Some wanted to err on the side of caution rather than risk another attack on the US.

They were looking at the OSP intel. Bush had told them Iraq was buying yellowcake from Niger, Tenet said it was a slamdunk. The whole administration was saying Iraq was a threat. Don't assume everyone had the same info we had. We're news junkies. Before the election in 2004, 67% of the people believed either Saddam was involved with 9-11, involved with al Qaeda or that WMD were found in Iraq, according to a PIPA poll.

That being said, there's no excuse for their silence now!

[OneTwentyoNine]

11. Here's the numbers from October 11,2002

Senate

1 Republican against--Chaffee of RI
1 Independant against--Jeffords
29 Democrats for
21 Against

House

6 Republicans against
126 Democrats against

Quote from John McCain:

"Giving peace a chance only gives Saddam Hussein more time to prepare for war on his terms, at a time of his choosing, in pursuit of ambitions that will only grow as his power to achieve them grows," McCain said.

[Donna Zen]

14. 23 Against

...and at the time, Democrats controlled the Senate.

Also, if one checks the polling report for the mood of the nation at the time, the majority did not want to go to war unilaterally. Those numbers were held into Jan. of 03. The pResident spun this, but to do so, took plenty of help.

Thanks for those numbers. The spin that "some" Democrats were bamboozled defies the facts.

[Telly Savalas]

18. To be pedantic, it was 21 Democrats.

Nay vote #23 was Jim Jeffords, an independant.

Oh, yeah, #22 was Chafee (R)

I'm goofing up!

[Donna Zen]

21. You did great!

What is not so great is the repeated meme that somehow the people who worked on Will Pitt's book, and anyone who read it, knew something that the Democratic senators did not. Furthermore, the meme assumes, that the senators who voted "no"--and that includes those on the intelligence committee--were somehow intellectual aberrations.

The Democrats who vote "yea" were either in agreement of this possible "window" that would allow the USA to become an empire, or they were politically motivated. There is a third possibility: that they are just dumber than a bag of hammers, but I'm leaving that one off my list.

Biden and Jomentum are definitely among the empire seekers, but the politically challenged almost make me sicker. Using war as for personal political gain is just sick. This was not one vote among the hundreds they cast, this was a defining vote that revealed those who will not lead.