Today I came across a letter of mine to the editor of Rochester's Times-Union newspaper dated July 21, 2003, four months after the March 19, 2003, invasion of Iraq. It was titled "Find Weapons Soon or Investigate Leaders". I had reluctantly support the invasion, convinced by Colin Powell - the only one in the government that I trusted - that Iraq was a real threat to the world. But by July, it was becoming evident that our government probably lied to us. Hence, I wrote this letter.
"As one who was convinced by the president of the United States, and his staff, that war with Iraq was necessary due to the "immanent threat" posed by Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, I am deeply concerned by the failure of our forces to find these weapons.
The absence of these weapons, if confirmed, invalidates President Bush's rationale for starting this war. The international standing of the United States will be substantially diminished if they are not found, and the cost to the United States in lives lost and billions spent will be judged not to be worth the benefits to our country's security or national interest.
It is therefore essential that these weapons, if they exist, be found. The overthrow of Saddam Hussein, as despicable as he is, does not in itself justify our invasion of Iraq.
Our government must prove that Iraq posed an "immanent threat." If the weapons of mass destruction are not found in the near future, the American people's trust will have been violated.
At that point, an investigation should be initiated by congress to determine why our leaders led us into a war that should not have been fought."
We did not find the weapons of mass destruction. Our government lied to us. "Poor intelligence" is no excuse for what they did, because the president is in charge of intelligence and responsible for the errors. The cost to our country in international standing, lives, and money has been horrific and and will persist for many years.
If there has ever been, in the history of our country, an open and shut case for impeachment of a president, the lies leading to the invasion of Iraq is it. They should not be talking about building the "Bush Library". They should be talking about building the Bush Memorial Prison, where he and Cheney, Powell, Tenet, and Rice should spend most of their remaining lives considering their crimes against the United States.
If the democrats win total control of congress in 2008, the first order of business should be to put all these people on trial. The world must know that we are ashamed of what we did.
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3 comments:
You are an early adopter. You were right when you wrote the letter. I was slow to agree. That being the case, I have to think seriously about whether you are right about impeachment, not that it's going to happen.
Hans Blix is definately owed an apology, and Bush/Chaney deserve not only impeachment but jail time.
But it isn't going to happen. The only issue the democrats have is "We're not quite as bad as the worst political team on the plantet," and they aren't going to give that up even if it means two more years of wallowing in the filth.
And I've come to the conclusion that the Democrats want this war/occupation as much as the Republicans do. That's what their actions seem to indicate.
Impeachment's never gonna happen even though it is deserved, but we can dream.
But then again there's always the possibility (and statistical probability) that someone will shoot him, every President elected in a year that ends in zero since Abraham Lincoln has died in office/been assassinated, and Reagan was the only one to not die. I'm not saying it would be a good thing (then Dick Cheney would be President) but it's merely an interesting coincidence.
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