SeattlePI: Rep. Smith says vote in favor of war a mistake

Rep. Smith says vote in favor of war a mistake

By MATTHEW DALY

ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

Friday, December 2, 2005 · Last updated 4:06 p.m. PT

WASHINGTON -- Just back from Iraq, Rep. Adam Smith says he is encouraged by the progress U.S. troops are making there. But Smith, one of two House Democrats from Washington state to vote in favor of the war, said Friday if he had to do it over, he would change his vote.

"I wanted to give our commander in chief a certain amount of trust," Smith said of his October 2002 vote authorizing President Bush to use force in Iraq. "I decided we are at war, Saddam needs to be held accountable and I will trust the president," Smith told The Associated Press. "I feel like that trust turned out to be misplaced. If I had to do it all over again, I would not give it to him for that reason."

Smith's comments came a week after Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., who also voted in favor of the war, said he now believes the war was a mistake.

Smith, who returned Thursday from a five-day trip to Iraq and three other countries, said Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other officials should be held accountable for overstating the case for war and the presence of catastrophic weapons.

Link:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Smith_Iraq.html