Repost of article “Coming GOP War — Over the War!” Buchanan blames Dem Senate for Iraqi war

[jody]

Coming GOP War — Over the War!” by Patrick J. Buchanan - December 12, 2006

The Democratic establishment, which gave Bush a blank check to take us to war, "to get the issue out of the way" before the midterms in 2002, is also preparing its defense of the role it played in plunging us into Mesopotamia, the "if-only-we-had-known" defense.

"If only we had known then what we know now — that there was no hard evidence of WMD, no hard evidence of al-Qaida ties to Saddam Hussein — we would never have voted for the war." "If only we had known how incompetent Rumsfeld’s Pentagon would be in managing the war, we would never have given Bush a green light."

The Democrats’ defense begs these questions: Why didn’t you know? Why didn’t you find out? Why didn’t you do your constitutional duty and refuse the president the power to go to war until he had convinced you that only war could spare the republic worse horrors?

The media are celebrating the ISG for its "bipartisanship" and the "consensus" achieved. But was it not a bipartisan consensus that produced the war: a Democratic Senate failing in its duty to ascertain the necessity of a war to be launched by a Republican president, because Democrats feared that telling a popular president "no" would reinforce the party’s reputation as being soft on national security?

Below are links cited in the previous thread.

H.J. Res. 114 “AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF MILITARY FORCE AGAINST IRAQ RESOLUTION OF 2002”

House "FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 455"

”U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 107th Congress - 2nd Session”

NOTE:
1. Bush invaded Iraq on 19 Mar. 2003

2. Republicans controlled the House since January 1995.

3. Republicans controlled the Senate since January 2003.

[sandnsea]

1. Because Bush lied

Both about the intelligence and his intentions to use the IWR as a tool to disarm Iraq peacefully.

[Burnsey_Koenig]

2. Dems did control Senate

At the time of the debate and the vote for force. It was Debated in Oct, 2002, which your first link notes, which would have indeed been a Democratic Controlled Senate. Daschelle was still there.

[jody]

3. Understand but the resolution came from the Rep. controlled House, a fact that Buchanan

conveniently ignored. :shrug:

House vote 10-Oct-2002 3:05 PM

Senate vote on October 11, 2002, 12:50 AM

[kenny blankenship]

5. Procedurally controlled by Daschle yes, but so fucking what?

the party composition of the Senate was 50/50 and any tie would be decided by Dick Cheney, in whose blighted heart this war was conceived. The Senate could hardly refuse to vote on the joint resolution voted up by the solidly Repuke House of Representatives, so procedural control of the Senate by an "establishment" of Democrats is a moot point. The Republican administration, which insisted on this illegal war, controlled and fabricated all the "intelligence" used to justify it, which means they controlled public opinion. I was going to write "public debate" there, but when one side controls all the information and decrees what the facts are, there isn't any debate.

Out of 100 Senators there were 23 Nays on the IWR. All but one of those Nays were Democrats. And in the House the Nays also broke down 126 Democratic votes to only 6 Republican. That's a 20 to 1 ratio in opposition to the war, Democrats over Republicans. As a partisan advocate, Pat Buchanan hasn't got a leg to stand on. His only purpose in this criticism is to attack Democrats to benefit Republicans--and what did his party do? His party was unanimously FOR this disastrous war like few other things in their whole sordid history. Now they're reaping their just rewards for their innate viciousness, and if anything Fate has been merciful to them so far (but she ain't done yet). I might listen to criticism if it were coming from sincere sources with genuinely constructive motivations behind it, for example if the critic was reviewing this recent history to point out the continuing defect of our system that allows a President to manufacture intelligence and lead the Congress around by their noses the way Bush did, but this wasn't Buchanan's point and constructive meditation on the lessons of 2002 isn't his motivation. He should just shut the fuck up.

[jody]

7. What kenny blankenship said!

:thumbsup: :yourock: :toast:

[npincus]

4. I do blame every Dem who voted for the war resolution

shameful.

[Nite Owl]

6. I have to agree with him

It was a failure of judgement on the part of the Dems to vote for this resolution, it gave too much power to a President, any President. It's the job of Congress to decide the issue of war and they gave it up too easily. At least a lot of the dems have had to courage to admit it was a mistake though, the repukes haven't done that but for a couple.

It really shocks me that we most often know more than our elected officials. They were elected by us to lead and they don't, they can't without the facts and there is little intellectual curiosity to listen to those who do know or to research. The facts were there before the war, nothing that is happening there now should be surprising yet they treat this as if it was a new development.