Reply #25: Ah Christ, Will... [View All]

...I read Truthout before my work e-mail...even before my first cup o' coffee. I trust you, man.
That said, I've posted links to that speech in a couple of places in DU for other reasons. IMO, there's far too much weight being given here to the Kerry statements on Hussein's "weapons". A large majority in Congress went with what they were told the intelligence was when they voted. Is each member supposed to be able to interpret that data independently before voting? Did they even have access to the raw data? I don't know myself, I believe it would help if that were cleared up.
Beyond that, I believe Kerry's repeated referrals to the administration's promised position of exhausting diplomatic means and his likewise repeated insistence that he was giving his yes vote based on those reassurances renders his wmd position moot. Even if he had access to the CIA's raw data and interpreted it incorrectly himself, his insistence that proper paths be followed before one soldier "steps foot on Iraqi soil" makes the existence or non-existence of weapons less important.
In one instance you placed emphasis on this one sentence,

"Yes, it is grave because of the deadliness of Saddam Hussein's arsenal and the very high probability that he might use these weapons one day if not disarmed."

In all fairness the remainder of that paragraph in its entirety is what deserves the emphasis...
"In voting to grant the President the authority, I am not giving him carte blanche to run roughshod over every country that poses or may pose some kind of potential threat to the United States. Every nation has the right to act preemptively, if it faces an imminent and grave threat, for its self-defense under the standards of law. The threat we face today with Iraq does not meet that test yet. I emphasize "yet." Yes, it is grave because of the deadliness of Saddam Hussein's arsenal and the very high probability that he might use these weapons one day if not disarmed. But it is not imminent, and no one in the CIA, no intelligence briefing we have had suggests it is imminent. None of our intelligence reports suggest that he is about to launch an attack."

Where our anger should more properly be directed we may draw from this quote from the speech...
"I believe the work we have begun in this Senate, by offering questions, and not blind acquiescence, has helped put our Nation on a responsible course. It has succeeded, certainly, in putting Saddam Hussein on notice that he will be held accountable; but it also has put the administration on notice we will hold them accountable for the means by which we do this."

We ultimately couldn't hold the administration accountable for one reason and one reason alone...because the republicans on Capitol Hill wouldn't allow it, and the president knew they wouldn't all along. If people feel they were betrayed, that's where they should look first, because that's where the system of checks and balances we rely on so heavily went tits up.


That's just my opinion though. Keep up the good work! :)