Congressman Dennis Moore from my District is a moderate Democrat. He would have to be in the heavy blue state of Kansas in order to be elected. He was on talk radio last night while I was on the way to a signing. When asked of recent incidents involving scandal and corruption he said that both sides have had a limited number of problems and that the vast majority are good, decent, hard working persons standing up for principals they believe in.
He was asked about his opinion of Iraq and whether he supported the overall war and what his thoughts were and how were they developed. He made several key statements that are worth considering. He said that he supported the entry of the United States into Iraq. He said he did so based upon the facts presented at the time - that they were briefed three times by a UN appointee to determine whether WMD were in Iraq and they believed that they were. That he did not rely on anyone from any party to make up his mind concerning the right thing to do. That the same intelligence was shared with the US, England, France and Germany among others. That the intelligence was incorrect was a problem. He indicated Saddam was an extraordinarily evil person and should have been removed. He also put forth the idea that it was his opinion that Saddam felt strongly that if the UN felt that he had WMD than we would not enter and that he remotely encouraged intelligence sources with the planting of faulty information (blame the dead guy?). He went on to say that Saddam did not in any way allow for Al Qaeda to be present in Iraq as they are at extreme odds with the other. However, he said that he felt strongly that we should not withdraw now. He said he is disappointed in the current government and is not impressed with how this war is going. He said that in a free country persons are elected to the position and the current government is the only one that we can legitimately do business with. That Iraq need to more quickly step up to the plate is extraordinarily important, but difficult to achieve. Al Qaeda is in Iraq now strongly, arguably entering upon the vacuum affect of Saddam’s departure. He has no doubt that it is far better to keep the fight in Iraq than to see it here later.
Missions have been accomplished, but the war is not over. Perhaps these perceptions are being stated to keep the constituency happy. |
