Poll: Would you have voted for the IWR?

[The Straight Story]

With all the talk about Kerry and others and how they voted, I got to wondering how progressives here would have voted:

[KG]

1. no. any child could see what was going on. dem. politicians weren't

'misled', they made a cowardly, calculated political decision. and 100,000+ people have paid for their shame with their lives.

[emulatorloo]

2. me a person no -- me a senator reassured by moderate Powell , dunno

Reassured by Powell that the admin really really needed this to get inspectors in,

Reassured by Powell our intelligence knows exactly where the weapons are (and btw senator the top secret breifing is in an hour and we'll show you the pictures and damn are they good).

Reassured by Powell that will pursue every diplomatic option, because you know we are moderate people and we beleive in internationalism and diplomacy.

Reassured by Powell that he in charge of this at the whitehouse and nothing crazy will be done -- we just really need to get the inspectors in and it will be ok.

in that case I dont know.

But at anyrate, we find out powell were kinda out of the loop on this.

[KG]

3. please, don't fall for powell myth.

colin powell has never been a 'moderate', that's been a calculated life long PR job. he's been carrying water for the neo-con his entire career. he gladly went along with with the charade and was only to happy to go to the UN and tell those outrageous lies. and kerry and the rest of the cowards on the hill know this about him also.

[emulatorloo]

4. I am no fan of Powell's, esp "knowing what we know now" EOM

[salin]

5. Powell wasn't a deciding factor at the time of the vote

the NIE that was delivered was. I wouldn't have voted for it - but I was pretty stunned to read that the NIE that had been prepared and the one delivered to congress was different - the one delivered to congress had been stripped of all of the intelligence communities caveats (as in x or y hasn't been confirmed, or q was from a source considered unreliable...) The document, apparently, was frightening. In the post 911 (just one year earlier) moment - some folks who had been against it were greatly manipulated by the intel briefings sent to congress.

During the senate hearings into pre-war intel (that refused to look at the political origins) - there was one brief questioning session that inquired into the two NIEs - and asked WHO was responsible for the changes in the document.

While it doesn't change my stand, and I am critical of some who voted - and then later kept supporting their vote - I do understand how some changed their vote. AND I wish that they would speak out more and push that little bit of info out there as it totally blows away the now recurring GOP spin that "EVERYONE, Dems and REpubs" thought that Iraq had WMDs. Because folks thought it due to the intentional deception of THIS WH. The intel the WH had was vastly different than what was delivered to Congress. Get the public to recognize that - and the public will stop swallowing the whole...the intel was wrong, woops, excuse.

[Stinky The Clown]

6. Absolutely not

There was no reason to even think Saddam was a threat. Sorry, I know all the 'he's a bad man' stuff and that most of it was true. But there was simply no threat until Bush started waving his dick at him. And even then, it was all about dick waving and not of any real substance. That talk was our first step through Little Georgie's looking glass.

I can forgive the votes of those in Congress .... but only when looking at the totality of their record. I agree it was a hard position for them, given the time and the climate in this country.

For those who voted against it, they get lots and lots of extra points from me. For those who voted for it, the best they can hope for from me is forgiveness.

[windbreeze]

7. So my question is....

Seems the majority who've voted...understand that the war vote was wrong...so, why didn't those we elected??...they didn't realize the risks of giving that much power to one person?..and allowed themselves to be "misled"??? at the same time the whole world was physically marching in the streets???....then they need to be replaced for being stupid/gullible/incompetent and for failing to do the job they were elected to do....Don't our voices matter to this OF/BY/FOR the people gov't any longer??....
I guess WE have to remember our gov't is only as good as the people we elect to take care of it..WE PAY their wages..THEY answer to us.....we are NOT powerless...
windbreeze

[IndianaGreen]

8. It was obvious that Bush wanted war

Colin Powell's UN speech was debunked by the British press almost as soon as Powell left his seat in the Security Council. Those that believed Bush deluded themselves, or worse, they followed the advice of the DLC to vote for IWR so that they could concentrate on economic issues. It was wrong to vote for IWR. It was evil to vote for IWR. It was unbelievably stupid to vote for IWR. Anyone that voted for IWR was an idiot and they have a lot of penance to do before they can redeem themselves. A good way to start on the path of redemption is by fixing the mistake they made, and the only way to do that is by calling for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all US troops and contractors out of Iraq.