"We made a colossal mistake." - U.S Rep. Walter B. Jones

[Sapphire Blue]

An about-face from his initial authorization

U.S Rep. Walter B. Jones signed off on the war in Iraq, and now spends a lot of his time signing letters to the families who have lost troops.

By SUSAN TAYLOR MARTIN, Times Senior Correspondent
Published May 21, 2006

GREENVILLE, N.C. - Congressman Walter B. Jones has a ritual. Almost every Saturday, he comes here to his district office with the crucifix on the desk and his grandfather's World War I medals on the wall.

Then he picks up a pen and carefully signs letter after letter to the families of U.S. service members who died in Iraq:

My heart aches as I write this for I realize you are suffering a great loss.

In the past three years, Jones, a conservative Republican, has sent thousands of letters to families across the country. And as the letters piled up on his desk awaiting signature, he reached a conclusion about the war he had voted to authorize:

"We made a colossal mistake."

Continued @ http://www.sptimes.com/2006/05/21/Worldandnation/An_about_face_from_hi.shtml

[TahitiNut]

1. It wasn't a "mistake." It was DELIBERATE and PLANNED.

A FRAUD is not a "mistake." :grr:

[merwin]

3. You can have a planned mistake. It's called a bad decision.

He made a mistake when he supported the war. Planned or not, it is a decision he regrets, which makes it a mistake :)

[rman]

12. True, but doesn't mean that all those who supported it are in on the fraud

After all much of "their" m.o. revolves around deception - and they wouldn't be doing that if it wouldn't work.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

2. So what are you going to do about it now, Mr. Jones?

Signing letters to families is simply not enough.

I hope you have nightmares every single night for the rest of your miserable life, you rubber stamping sonofabitch.

[Sapphire Blue]

9. This...

Last June, Jones joined 67 other House members, most of them liberal Democrats, in a resolution urging President Bush to plan for "the prompt and orderly withdrawal" of all U.S. troops from Iraq.

and...

Jones co-sponsored House Joint Resolution 55, which would require Bush to turn over all military operations to the new Iraqi government and come up with a plan to start withdrawing troops no later than Oct. 1, 2006.

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/05/21/Worldandnation/An_about_face_from_hi.shtml

[Imalittleteapot]

18. How about a prompt and orderly withdrawal of

King * from our Whitehouse? That Rep. Jones is the only way to remedy "our" collosal mistake.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. Seems to be a lot of that "I made a mistake" BS going around lately.

Now that the polls show they're going to pay for authorizing the slaughter.

[ladjf]

15. Admitting the mistake, even if not motivated by ethical principles,

is a step in the right direction.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

17. The trouble being, voting for the war was not a "mistake".

It was a calculated response to the mood of the country as reflected in the polls as the time. Just as all the "it was a mistake" crap is now.

[ladjf]

19. Your point is clear and well taken. However, don't expect anyone

to pose their apology in that manner. "I'm sorry that at the time of the vote, it appeared that the safest political decision in order for me to keep my job, was to vote for the war."

We are all over talking this point anyway. The slimy bastards were pandering. Their votes were for sale. No use spending too much time reiterating the obvious.

[TheFarseer]

20. actually he's been saying this for about a year

Certainly before it was "cool" It's so sad that everyone that could have done something was too cowardly to even ask any questions about why we were going to war and are you sure on this intelligence or even what the plan for victory was.

[peekaloo]

5. Funny how contrite they are during election years.

Will he now switch back to the Democratic party, too?

[demswin06]

6. Gee.

ya think. Nice of you after three years and "freedom fries" to suddenly develop a conscience,ain't it?

[Sapphire Blue]

7. Jones' doubts about the war magnified in late 2004...

Jones' doubts about the war magnified in late 2004 when his daughter gave him the tape of the book A Pretext for War: 9/11, Iraq and the Abuse of America's Intelligence Agencies. Jones, who gets claustrophobic on planes, listened to it on his 4½-hour commute between home and Washington.

What he heard so disturbed him that he invited author James Bamford to speak to a group of House members.

"He's very tied into the CIA," Jones says, "and we listened to him talk about how neoconservatives manipulated intelligence to justify going into war."

Jones now says he "never felt good" about his authorizing vote. But after the Sept. 11 attacks, "you had an atmosphere in Congress that Saddam Hussein had relations with terrorists who were part of 9/11. When experts tell you that he had the ability to attack America, that he was funding terrorist groups, you're going to accept what you've been told because you want to feel you can believe those who are in key positions."

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/05/21/Worldandnation/An_about_face_from_hi.shtml

[Booster]

13. It really bothers and disturbs me that these people don't read or

pay attention to things the rest of us know. Why does his daughter have to point out this shit to him? Didn't ANYONE in Wash know about or talk about this book? These people (both sides) are so out of touch with reality and they are making the most important decisions in all of our lives.

[The2ndWheel]

8. Didn't know Gob Bluth was in Congress

in a $4500 suit. Come on!

[marions ghost]

10. He served up the freedom fries

along with the kool-aid. And now he wants to make it right with God. :puke: But he is in a position to influence some of the base, especially the military, and so for that we must be grateful for small epiphanies. Sometimes God sends a face-saving tool like Jones...a way for those who have indeed made a big mistake...to come to terms with it and own at least some part of it.

[zbdent]

11. What, no auto-pen?

which seems likely for a Repuke . . . he's trying to save his ass for November . . .

[brentspeak]

14. In fairness to Jones

He began speaking out against the war last year, not this year.

[KansDem]

16. Don't tell it to us! Tell it to the ones we "liberated" (warning: graphic)

Don't tell us, we knew what you were doing all along. We couldn't stop you because of "the system." But we knew. And you knew too, so tell it to the ones we "liberated"



Incidently, Wally, why the masks on our "freedom-loving, democracy-spreading" troops?

...and this one. Wonder who he was? And do you think his parents know this is how we "liberated" their son?



FUCK YOU, WALLY! Fuck you and the Bush Family! Fuck you and the Eunuch Congress who voted for this! Fuck you and the toadies on the Supreme Court who enabled this shit! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you and your "oh, no, we might have made a mistake!" bullshit. You knew exactly what you were doing! FUCK YOU!"

"Fuck you, please, it's time!"

"Fuck you, please, it's time!"

"Fuck you, please, it's time!"

[hatrack]

21. I hope you choke on a Freedom Fry, asshole

That's all.

Just fucking choke on it, Rep. Johnny Come Lately To Reality.

[LostinVA]

22. Ole "Freedom Fries" Jones -- part of the problem

What a little weathervane...