People Who Opposed The Iraq War From The Beginning Are The Best Americans - HuffPo

[WillyT]

People Who Opposed The Iraq War From The Beginning Are The Best Americans
Jason Linkins - HuffPo
Posted: 05/15/2015 4:38 pm EDT Updated: 05/15/2015 5:59 pm EDT

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Let us at long last make it clear and proclaim it ever thus! These are history's victors: the ones you don't need to ask if they would have invaded Iraq if they knew what they know now. They knew it then. More importantly, those who opposed the war in Iraq from the very beginning took no end of abuse for taking that position. They were called unserious, they were compared to Neville Chamberlain, they were told that they hadn't learned the "lesson of September 11th," and they took that beating from the Iraq War's engineers and its cheerleaders, who've suffered very little consequence for their tragic lapse in judgment.

Somewhere during his weeklong perambulations, Jeb Bush offered that "the focus" needed to be "on the future." Fair enough. But let's not let the present moment pass without acknowledging that those who were most focused on the future during the run-up to the war in Iraq were the ones working to stop it from happening. Don't confuse those people with all of today's 2016 candidates, burnishing their merit badges for hindsight with billionaires' boodle.

From: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/15/jeb-bush-media-iraq-war_n_7294000.html

[marym625]

1. K&R!

Well, we knew that

[JDPriestly]

113. Luckily, we Democrats face a choice between a candidate who was one of the few who

voted against the war, that is Bernie Sanders, and a candidate who was warned by the Code Pink group not to vote for the war but who voted for it anyway, Hillary Clinton.

Here is Hillary responding to Code Pink after they warned her that going into Iraq was wrong.

Hillary, the Iraq War and Code Pink

Hillary could have researched the facts. She would have had access to lots of resources others in Congress did not have. She didn't do her job. That's the bottom line. She didn't do her job. She voted for the war.

Bernie did his job.

I'm voting and working for Bernie. I want someone who has strong values, can assess facts independently and use good judgment in making foreign policy decisions. And I think that is Bernie Sanders.

[swilton]

121. Although not a political leader

Last edited Mon May 18, 2015, 10:16 AM - Edit history (1)

proud to include myself as among those who (as a member of Veterans for Peace and also a member of Code Pink) opposed the war in 2003 and also opposed the Iraq War in 1990.

Here is a Youtube link - I couldn't get the above to connect...

<iframe width="854" height="510" src="

" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Notice how she conveniently switches the conversation to dodge the central issue her decision to support the Iraq War Resolution:
the economic policies of the Bush Administration (which it was but was not the issue) @ 12 min. 55
to her support for New Yorkers' security @ 14 min. 25

While we're on the subject of war -
She also goes into @ 12 min. her husband's decisions to go to war (w/o UN resolution) in support of Kosovar Albanians...an action that established a precedent for use of NATO forces against its own charter, and a violation of the UN charter that holds (in my own words) the only 'legitimate' use of force is that of self-defense. Humanitarian intervention were excluded as acts of self-defense because any country (even Hitler) could use humanitarian intervention as a pretext.

[cantbeserious]

2. Anti-War To The Core

eom

[ancianita]

3. Haha billionaire boodle can never buy morality and good judgment.

We gotta re-co-nize! Thanks!

[neverforget]

4. How those to the left of the American political spectrum could support such transparently

made up excuses to justify war with Iraq is beyond me. The neo-cons were Bush's major advisors and they always thought that the First Gulf War should have ended with us taking Baghdad. 9/11 was just the "Pearl Harbor" they were looking for to invade Iraq and remake the Middle East.

[Caretha]

53. We were right and we are right now!

We were not fools...

Nor were the millions world wide, who protested then.

Wake the fucking up!

[neverforget]

64. damn right!

[MisterP]

72. Democrats are the left, now? ;-P

[Enthusiast]

5. Funny that so many of us knew it was based on lies right from the start.

While the media hardly questioned it.

[Caretha]

56. ...but but but

Hillary had no idea... Get the fuck out. Little ol' me from Texas knew what a bunch of hog swallow that was. What a leader. If I'm smarter than she is we are truly fucked.

I wonder why anyone would her for the President If I knew shit she "supposedly didn't. This is a person who will sell me and the 99% down the river, just like her husband did...NAFTA and the great "sucking sound".

Thank you, no more please.

Fuckin' blood, shit and tears.....

I want a leader smarter than me. Or we could say she is smarter than me, and will sell her soul for whatever she thinks it is worth.


I could correct all the inaccuracies but I don't personally give a damn

[LibDemAlways]

110. The media had a vested interest in it.

Anyone who didn't toe the party line was a pariah. Phil Donahue was fired for being against the war. Dan Rather's career at CBS was cut short for trying to tell the truth about the chimp's national guard record. Michael Moore was publicly ridiculed by Hollywood elite at the Oscars. Meantime guys who should have known better like Chris "Tweety" Matthews were kissing corporate ass by proclaiming how manly the chimp looked in a flight suit. Walter Cronkite would be turning over in hs grave.

[awoke_in_2003]

118. The run up to the war

eventually led me to question everything I believed politically, and it also led me here. I wish I would have gotten here under better circumstances

[Enthusiast]

131. I have a bit of that "question everything" I believe politically.

I have found my perception to be wanting on a number of occasions. At the same time I have become aware of the war of mass deception they are waging against us.

With the smallest bit of unimpeded investigative journalism they could blow the top off the standard official 9/11 narrative. If they did that, Bush, Cheney and the rest would have to answer for their crimes.

I think we can handle the truth.

[awoke_in_2003]

134. Yes, we can handle it

It might shock the daylights out of some for a while, but maybe that is exactly what this country needs to wake the hell up.

[Cal Carpenter]

6. ROLL CALL for the Jan 2003 protest in DC before it even started

Anyone else around here freeze their asses off out there that day? Or in any of the other cities that held protests that day?



(eta: I am not so bold as to consider myself among 'the best Americans', I think that's a pretty cheesy way to look at it, but I get their point)

[Oilwellian]

9. We beat the cold

There was one in October, 2002. A great DU contingency was there. Will Pitt, Matcom, LynnSin, deutsey, KHepra, just off the top of my head. There were also a few Bartcoppers who joined us.

[Cal Carpenter]

18. Ya know, I may have been at that one too....

I took overnight chartered activist buses to DC for at least 3 protests. I just remember the super-fucking-cold one best

I wasn't on DU back in 2002-2003, but in 2005 I met up with a bunch of DUers at a protest in DC including some you mentioned. That was great fun. Many of the folks I met there aren't here anymore though. (I had a different username then, because I prefer greater anonymity online these days)

[HelenWheels]

98. Viggo Mortenson

Was at a protest in DC. My daughter and I missed him as we were railing against a fundamentalist preacher. My nephew saw him on a stage where he was speaking.
My daughter and I and a few other hardy souls protested the war every Friday from 2002 to 2006 We marched in front of the Court House in cold, snow, rain and even sunshine. We were yelled at, threatened, had one car come over the curb at us and one of our members was attacked by a local dentist.
After the attack a cop told us, "We don't have to protect you." I went to speak with the Chief of Police, a loyal Democrat, told him what the cop said and he told me, "You will be protected." The next day he had a meeting with all the cops and said they must provide protection for us.

[90-percent]

14. I froze my ass off that day in DC

Jan 2003, international answer protest on the dc mall. got there early and got good shots but i used a cheap disposable camera cuz, you know, riots.

Ramsey Clarke
[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

Rev Al
[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

Jesse Jackson

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

This was the first war protest of my life and I got a draft card in 1972 when I turned 18! The draft was abolished that year and I would have gone mad if I had to serve.

-90% Jimmy

[Cal Carpenter]

23. Aw, nice pics!

I have a box of stuff in my basement from those days - pics, flyers, handouts of various kinds, notes from meetings, but I haven't digitized any of it.

And that was a great day to break the ice (bad pun intended) into your protest life!

[swilton]

128. Great shots

I think Susan Sarandon was there as well...

[WillyT]

36. Does San Francisco Count ???

Met Proud Patriot, HellHathNoFury, Arcane1, Tiniore, NoiretBlue, and many more there.

[dreamnightwind]

37. I am somewhere in those pix

with my young son in a pack on my back. It was an amazing experience, the solidarity with like minded people was what I remember.

[WillyT]

38. Me Too... When You Are In That Large Of A Crowd, Of People Who Care... It's Magical...

[brett_jv]

82. I AM TOO!!!

Assuming that's the one that started at Dolores Park and went to City Hall, and happened a few days after Layne Staley died ...

[Cal Carpenter]

45. I've marched with

Tinoire too. Hope that badass woman is doing well. She is remarkable..

eta: and thanks for starting this thread. Fond memories, and these days I'm working on finding time to be more active this way again. It's inspiring.

[arcane1]

54. Agreed! I hope she's still kicking ass wherever she is now.

I'm feeling nostalgic for, among other things, liberals all fighting a common enemy

[Jackpine Radical]

57. Didn't Tinoire sorta…tree herself when she left here

if ya get my drift?

[WillyT]

61. Yep... Ex-Military Who Didn't Put Up With A Lot Of Crap...

She was "invited to leave".

But she was at every one of those marches.

[arcane1]

52. Damn right it counts!!

[WillyT]

60. I Thought So Too...

[NOLALady]

105. Heavens! I miss the Bay Area!

Some of the best people live there.

[awoke_in_2003]

119. I remember seeing pics from all the rallies...

and comparing that to the coverage they were getting. The news barely touched what was going on, and that is when I realized we were going in no matter what.

[cui bono]

63. I marched in Los Angeles a few times. Met Martin Sheen at one of them.

He was just walking in the crowd at the end, during the rally, and I walked up to him and thanked him for all his activism and he shook my hand and said, "No, thank YOU." Classy guy.

[KingCharlemagne]

70. Massive jealousy here. Never met anyone famous while protesting in LA, but I did get to

hear Gore Vidal speak in person (Feb. 15, 2003, I think). A great speech. I've also since heard and met Ron Kovic in person. He's pretty impressive in the flesh and gave me and my wife valuable advice re: civil disobedience and strategy.

[pinboy3niner]

74. I met Ed Asner and his grandson at an antiwar action in Studio City

He rode in a convertible leading our antiwar contingent in the annual Christmas parade. Other than that, the only VIPs I met at various L.A. protest actions were other DUers like you and your wife.

[deutsey]

81. Beginning in April 2002

I was active in numerous local, regional, and national anti-war rallies in my hometown, DC, and NYC.

Here's something I wrote about A20 in 2002 for DU:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/02/05/03_a20.html

[swilton]

125. Same here

I started passing out flyers/petitions against the war at Montgomery Blair High School. Petitions went to Sarbanes and Mikulski and both voted against the Iraq War authorization. I'll never forget the words of a parent who signed the petition....."We don't need another war now.".....

[DemByDefault]

88. I was 21 then and remember the DC protest vividly.

Living and working in a bright red area at the time, it was downright dangerous to speak out against bush co and their for-profit war. I'll never forget that magical feeling of being together w/ half a million people who saw it for what it was and knew the disastrous repercussions that would follow.. 10s of thousands maimed and killed, more anti-American sentiment to fuel terrorism, trillions in debt, civil war, ISIS, and all the rest. These things were not unforeseen! Unfortunately, theres little satisfaction gained in having been right on Iraq. One things for sure though, any Dem who helped perpetrate this crime and now wants to be POTUS can forget about my vote.

[Cal Carpenter]

93. Welcome to DU, DbD!

[duhneece]

97. A dozen or so in Alamogordo, NM protested for months

We protested after the Iraq War Resolution was passed in October; protested for months at our city's busiest intersection. I got 'Special Permit' from the city and we were there. I met a man who became a really good friend since and just posted this to his facebook. We got lots of fingers, I was pushed onto the street & reported it. The man who hit me had a sign that said, "I support Bush. Bomb the whole Mid East." A few years later, this man Tim Hardegree committed murder in our little town.

[NOLALady]

102. Heavens! It was freezing!

I rode up there with a group of students from Loyola U.

[underpants]

114. 10/26/2002 DC a week before I got married

Met several DU'ers there and we marched.

I took the train from Richmond.

One of the proudest moments of my life.

[Faygo Kid]

116. I was there. And at the larger one that spring on the National Mall.

My then-beloved and I saw through the madness as soon as it began. Having lived through Vietnam, we recognized bullshit when we saw it. Although the casualties were less, the Iraq War was worse in many ways, as it was the most cynical foreign policy play in history. Damn them all.

[swilton]

124. I was there - present and accounted for

marched with Veterans for Peace.....Here is one of many unforgettable cadences

" Hey, Hey Uncle Sam
We remember Viet Nam
They Wave the Flag When You Attack
When You Come Home They Turn Their Back

Sound off....three..four"

[WorseBeforeBetter]

130. I don't care for 'the best Americans' framing either,

but yes, DC here. Fat lot of good it did!

[Wilms]

7. I resemble that remark.

That said, I thought I was merely not an idiot.

[calimary]

41. So do a lot of us.

That information was all out there for anybody who cared. We all saw it and we all knew it. From the get-go. So anything jebbie says about how they all saw the same info and they all got the same info and blah-blah-blah, is a LIE. That information was ALL out there and available. It was just muzzled, not given air time, not given column inches, nothing.

BUT WE KNEW THE TRUTH, AND WE STILL KNOW THE TRUTH. jebbie can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all of us.

[Wilms]

59. At the time a poll came out and I was stunned.

I recall something around 80!% in favor of going into Iraq and rearranging the furniture.

I admit, I was

[NRaleighLiberal]

8. Yup. Hand raised here.

[Warren DeMontague]

10. I honestly thought they were putting me on, when people started saying "Bush is gonna invade Iraq"

I was, like, no way would he try that- everyone knows they had nothing to do with 9-11.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

51. People seemed so scared that they would believe anything that W said

After 9/11 neighbors whom I thought were fairly intelligent went crazy. I remembering them venting about some people who lived up the road calling them Muslim filth. I had to remind them they were in fact from India and were not Muslims.

[Sobax]

66. It really brought out the worst in people

I saw a side to people I thought I knew that I'd never seen before.

[Major Nikon]

84. My reaction was, "You've GOT to be shitting me!"

[MaggieD]

11. If I said that about GLBT rights and DUers

Back in the same time period.… half of you would be labeled as "not good people."

Point being people make mistakes and learn and grow. Let's not be too self righteous.

[Warren DeMontague]

13. And yet those of us who have been consistently right on both have a right to point it out.

Especially when our current judgment is called into question.

[MaggieD]

20. Why?

Does it make you feel superior?

[Warren DeMontague]

21. Nah.

I feel superior for other reasons!

[MaggieD]

25. To each their own

I tend to think people who can learn and grow and admit mistakes are better people than those that believe they are superior.

I was against the war too but i had inside info (see my journal). I would have been anyway.

[Warren DeMontague]

28. I don't doubt it; but what's maddening is, you didn't really need much "inside info" to be against

it.

I mean, it was fairly obvious that it was being pushed on known lies- like the 16 words about yellowcake at the SOTU. That was already known to be a falsehood.

[MaggieD]

30. Agreed

But i had the added pleasure of watching Bush look the American people in the eye and lie his ass off when he said the congress should pass the resolution but nothing had been decided yet.

[Sobax]

68. If it was a genuine and honest mistake, that's one thing

But politicians being politicians, I doubt their sincerity when they claim to have learnt and grown from their mistakes. They're just good at following whichever way the wind blows.

[TheKentuckian]

76. The possibility of learning can never be conflated with actually learning

Some getting credit for learning from past mistakes show no signs they wouldn't repeat them with gusto.

"We came, we saw, he died" and tripping over yourself to get to Obama's right on arming "moderates" is not learning.

The reality is in the biggest moments the very serious, most "pragmatic", and so very "reality based" tend to screw the pooch hard and are the last to "learn" and the first to set up similar fuck ups to start the next cycle while slapping themselves on the back for their folly and desperately shouting down the folks that were right way before common sense and actual reality slowly seeps its way to their brains.

[Vattel]

85. Exactly, and as SOS she also was in favor of an even bigger escalation in Afghanistan

than Obama's ill-considered escalation.

[Autumn]

108. Dude I don't see any inside info, just second hand infomation from your spouse with no proof

I don't doubt you were against the war at all, I'm just saying that there's no inside info.

[MaggieD]

109. It was a very good source

.... and turned out to be spot on. In fact, the Bushies announced their intentions on Iraq almost exactly in line with when the source said they would.

[Autumn]

120. So your wife got this from Alans wife is what I understand ?

[DisgustipatedinCA]

92. Yes, hypothetically, we all could have been useless fucks. But that's not what happened.

Next.

[MaggieD]

99. Could have been?

DU was very anti-GLBT rights back then. The republicans were using it as a wedge issue and we were basically told here that we should sit down and shut up.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

100. Yes, could have been, but weren't.

[MaggieD]

101. Revisionist history on your part

[DisgustipatedinCA]

103. No. Actually, I was here and posting in 2001.

I see you're a fellow 2001 alumnus, but 99% of your posts are from this year, so I can see how you'd get confused over what transpired at this site. We were all very anti war here. Many (most?) of us marched against the war. We all knew Bush was lying through his teeth.

[MaggieD]

107. I'm not confused AT ALL

Perhaps you didn't pay much attention because you weren't in the group of people being told GLBT people should sit down and shut up. Funny how things like that work.

[bigwillq]

12. Thank you. I think I am too.

[WillyT]

43. LOL !!! - This Brings Back A Memory... In Jr. College I Had A Soc/Psych Teacher Who Asked...

"Can anyone here, name an unselfish reason for having a baby?"

And of course, almost everybody raised their hands...

When he started calling on them, asking to explain... more and more hands came down.

"Because it would continue the heritage/legacy of this family."

Prof: "Your baby does not know what family it was born too."

"Because they are so cute and cuddly."

Prof: "You baby does not know it's cute."

And on and on... Until...

Me (being the smart-ass): "Because I would be the greatest father, that my kid would cure cancer, and the world would be forever better."

And after he threw the chalk, and the eraser at me, he said...

"The BoyScout or GirlScout that helps a frail old lady or man to cross the street, gets to feel good about themselves.

It's the way society has always worked, and the only way it gets better.

Otherwise we are just pre-progammed automatons."

[Dont call me Shirley]

15. Thank you!

[chknltl]

16. I am not one of America's best, just an American. I was against the war.

I knew Saddam was no martyr also. What's that you say? Try out this thought experiment: Give Saddam a nuke affixed to a missile that could strike anywhere on the planet. Exactly where could he fire it at without becoming obliterated in less than 24 hours himself? Before you even think to say that he could have rallied allies out of his neighbors by firing it at Israel, look a few short years earlier who was among the coalition against Saddam even while he was firing off 'scud's' at Israel. He knew the consequences, he knew he would gain no allies that way and history provided us all the proof we needed that the man was no martyr when we found him cowering in a hidey-hole.

That second Iraqi war was never about stopping Saddam from using WMD. We knew it then and history has proven us right.

[Octafish]

17. Now that you mention it kick.

And a rec cause you are one, WilyT!

[WillyT]

39. Thanks fish...

[carolinayellowdog]

19. When not just France and Germany but Canada and Mexico tell you it's a huge mistake...

you should listen to them instead of the country that funded and was home to most of the attackers of 9/11. Never have been more overwhelmed with certainty that the nation was making a disastrous mistake. To this day, Gore and Carter have vastly more credibility to me than Kerry or the Clintons. How could people supposedly "in the know" not know what was so obvious to millions around the world? And if they DID know, it's even more horrifying.

[Sobax]

69. That reminds me

Are we allowed to start eating French cheese and drinking French wine again?

[Hoppy]

89. You can haz the cheese but only Freedom Fries are allowed.

Interesting that the Repub congress critter who came up with the idea of Freedom Fries, later stated that he was wrong.

[tavernier]

22. PROUD to say I was one of those

and I wasn't alone in my community... Even republican neighbors thought it was trumped up bullshit until the media started selling it lock, stock and barrel! And of course Fox made it their religion.

[whereisjustice]

24. But now when we oppose NSA, TPP and fracking, arctic drilling we are called leftists by

the Democratic Party. History doesn't repeat itself in a circle, it is more like a death spiral.

[navarth]

26. Well, we certainly have the best bullshit detectors.

Mine went through the roof when Bu$h invaded Iraq.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

127. Condi and her mushroom cloud did it for me.

And that fucking yellow cake. I opposed invasion from the start, but those two very blatant lies pushed me over the edge. Heated arguments with coworkers, friends and neighbors. Lost a couple of friends for a while, but they admitted years later that I was right. Ah, good times.

[sabrina 1]

27. I think we always knew that.

Anyone who went along with that murderous venture, did it either because of extremely bad judgement, worse than the average teenager at the time, or because they were for it and hoped to gain political capital for it.

Shameful period in our history.

[MaggieD]

31. That's kind of simplistic, IMO

Lots of good people were just susceptible to the full on fear mongering of the Bushies. 76% of the public favored it at one time. I didn't, but I knew plenty of good people that believed what was being sold to them.

[TM99]

35. Why then should we elect one of those

76% who were so susceptible to the full on fear mongering of the Bushies?

That is not exactly a ringing endorsement. Vote for me because I am susceptible to propaganda and act irrationally based on fear.

[MaggieD]

106. Because she can beat the republican candidate

It's pretty simple. So far we have no other candidate that can. The fact that she represented the place where the 9/11 attack did the most devastation and voted for a war the public overwhelming supported does not disqualify her to me. I just want a Democrat in the WH.

[JDPriestly]

115. Hillary showed incredibly bad judgment and poor research with her Iraq vote.

I don't want her anywhere near the nuclear button.

Bernie voted against the Iraq War. He showed courage and good judgment. I want him in the White House. I want him in charge of our intelligence services and our military as well as our foreign policy. He has American values through and through and will both save us from unnecessary wars and conduct necessary ones with the same wisdom as he used when he voted against the Iraq War Resolution.

I'm supporting Bernie Sanders.

[BlindTiresias]

123. She is an intelligent woman

But she has no moral courage, at best.

[JDPriestly]

133. Thank you. Agreed.

[TM99]

135. No it is not that simple.

I do not predict Clinton beating the Republican that finally emerges from their Primary.

As usual, more rationalizations and excuses for why she trusted obvious lies and made a very bad decision.

Winning at all costs is what has moved the Democratic party so far right and has devastated our country with this damned neo-liberal economic policies.

I want the right Democrat in the White House, not just one who really isn't that different than the Republican challenger will be.

[R B Garr]

91. Exactly right. People were threatened with being labeled a traitor if

they didn't show unified support for the President. The public was largely in favor of retaliation at the time. It was obvious there was going to be military action with the full support of the American people. The lie was that Saddam Hussein had anything to do with 9/11 or that there was any viable WMD left after Desert Storm. That was the lie that should have been called out -- not supporting "war".

[malaise]

29. +1,000

It's that fugging simple

[katmondoo]

32. Yes we took abuse for protesting

We were peaceful but still had helicopters over head and police on horseback in front. Some were spit on. Finally we have been proven right.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

33. never bought the bushit...I remember the suspense

False promises that he was considering the investigators' findings, the suspense, hoping they'd not do it......and then , I remember the crushed feeling when he announced, Fuck the investigators, we're going in....

Ugh. Horrible...

[ColesCountyDem]

34. That group would include me. n/t

[delrem]

40. Dick Cheney's neocon principal deputy foreign policy adviser was immediately hired by SOS HRC.

They not only didn't learn, they doubled down, and they laughed about it.
Totally amoral people.

[U4ikLefty]

42. I joined DU because of the Iraq War. I needed to talk to sane people & they were in short supply.

I had just came home from an anti-war march right before the war.

[JI7]

44. i was sadly right very early on about how horrible Bush would

Be if he got into office.

"Grown ups in charge now" was a joke

[maddiemom]

47. THANK you, "Supremes"!

The worst decision, politically motivated, in modern history. Time well past for a serious revision of our current system of government, AND updating the Constitution and ammendments.

[Hoppy]

90. Sandra Day later said the Bush/Gore decision was a mistake.

[maddiemom]

137. I've always felt "Good for her "instincts," They were certainly missing when she went

along with the 2000 decision to stop the vote count. That whole deal was SO WRONG, but the Democrats were really to blame for lying down. The Republicans, from what has been no secret, anticipated the Supreme Court going the other way and would definitely fight. The 2000 election, along with outrageous gerrymandering, signaled the end of any democracy we were fooled into believing we had. Time to "clean house" on our election system (particularly the electoral college).

[maddiemom]

46. I knew an amazing variety of people at the start of the Iraq war.

From minimum wage workers to extremely educated professionals to students, none were in favor of the invasion of Iraq. While some were willing to "go along," NOBODY was "gung ho" in any way. Many were puzzled that the PTB went along.

[swilton]

138. Thanks for saying that

I think this was one more case when political leadership was on the wrong side of their constituents' desires....

I also so people from all walks of life opposed to the Iraq War. Other than the politicians, nobody wanted it.

[99Forever]

48. Of course we are.

And we are pissed.

[CharlotteVale]

49. K&R

[senseandsensibility]

50. Obviously.

I am very hard on myself about a lot of things, and Lord knows I am anything but perfect.... yet, the fact that I opposed that war from the very beginning although I had no sources of info except the corporate media is something I will always be proud of.

[roamer65]

55. I had bad feelings about the 2000 election when I saw the polls about a week before it.

They were 48-48, just like the 1888 election. In other words, an election that could be easily stolen.

Bu$h was and still is an incompetent, warmongering moron and I opposed any of his actions. This country and world is still paying the price for that failed election and the war criminal that stole the Presidency.

[KingCharlemagne]

58. While I take a measure of pride in having started protesting against

Bush in November 2001 and only intensifying my efforts as the Bush Junta continued its criminal romp across history, I do not take satisfaction in having done so. There are way too many ghosts (an estimated 1,000,000+ in Iraq alone) to allow me to gloat in having been right all along. Rather I remind myself of Lincoln's peroration in The Gettysburg Address in trying to set my course for the future:

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain . . . . (Emphasis added)

[WillyT]

62. Great Point... And As Jason States...

Fair enough. But let's not let the present moment pass without acknowledging that those who were most focused on the future during the run-up to the war in Iraq were the ones working to stop it from happening.

From OP.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

65. A friend of mine is hooked on CNN as their main source of news...

Just before we invaded I said, "You know they're lying about links to 9/11 and WMDs, right?"

He said dismissively, "If that were true, that would be the biggest lie in history!"

He listens to me now,....but still watches CNN.

[FairWinds]

67. Some of us knew even before the 2003 invasion that the entire edifice of war . .

was based on a complete pack of lies.

I could not get this published in the US, but New Zealand has a bit of free press remaining . .

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3350402

I was called every name in the book . .

[Peregrine Took]

71. That's us!!

Downtown Chicago. Lots of us along with thousands of black clad "turtles."

[WillyT]

73. Kick !!!

[Demonaut]

75. day one

[Phlem]

77. It was wrong, it will always be wrong.

[akbacchus_BC]

78. If Hilary is the nominee for the Democratic Party, will you vote for her?

It is the same shit all over again, you all have to vote for the lesser of two evils. Better a Democrat than an effing republican!

[MysticHuman]

79. It's been a long time coming.....

I was called a traitor, a collaborator with the enemy, a coward.... it hurt. Some in my own family were the most hateful to me. I haven't spoken to them since.

Thank you for sharing this article... although it doesn't change the past, it does help me heal a bit as I feel somewhat vindicated.

Peace to all... we must never quit trying to rise above the mediocre minds of war for profit. Never!

[BlueCollar]

80. crawford tx "ditch dweller"...

And proud of it...

[Chemisse]

83. That is so true.

It was obvious during the lead up that it was all a big scam to conduct a war. It was so frustrating watching this all take place, and seeing all the players fall into line. Even Collin Powell.

[Marr]

86. "Prove that you don't have WMD by (date) or we invade. And we're removing the inspectors."

"Look at this evidence! Here we have actual DRAWINGS of his mobile bases! You're eyes don't lie!".

I'm still floored that our political establishment could even pretend to believe their 'arguments' for war. Shit, the main one was a logical fallacy, and the others were the sort of cons I'd expect a second grader to try. The whole thing was so transparent... I'll never believe any politician was 'fooled' by the Bush Administration's bullshit-- and that's being generous. If they were, they shouldn't be anywhere near an elected office.

[FairWinds]

87. Mr. Marr . .

that is an excellent point to raise and hammer upon.

The case for war was transparently absurd.

It shames me to this day that so few political scientists (I am one)
had the common decency and stones to oppose it.

[swilton]

129. ++++++++++

Absolutely

[LiberalElite]

94. Why, yes, we are!

[kacekwl]

95. I will be honest here

I was fooled by Bush and co. After 911 I became much more involved , asked questions and educated myself to what is really going on in government and world affairs . I will never again fall for this or any other so called populist position . So many things are going on that sadden and anger me that MY country is doing but I swear I won't get fooled again.

[tridim]

96. Yes, President Obama is the best American.

Fistbump Barack!

[BainsBane]

104. I opposed and protested the war from before it broke out

but that doesn't make me better than any other American. No one is better than anyone else. Some people may have been right on certain issues, but that doesn't make them better people.

[KingCharlemagne]

112. I beg to disagree. Your early anti-war stance clearly makes you better than the

rabid hordes of, for example, Christian evangelicals, many of whom insist to this day that Saddam had WMDs that somehow magically got spirited across the border to Syria.

Please accept this pat on the back from a fellow traveller. I do not take joy in this but I take a certain quiet satisfaction from knowing I was right, they were wrong and history will utlimately vindicate me entirely.

[fredamae]

111. I remember the day bush

announced his candidacy for prez...I looked at my husband and said: "If he wins the first thing he'll do is take us to war".
The rest is history and I sure as hell wasn't the only one who believed this.

[kpete]

117. thank you

[BlindTiresias]

122. Sounds harsh

But anyone who fell for the fear and lies in the lead up to the Iraq war does not deserve to lead other human beings. While it may not show an intellectual defect in the person, it does show a moral defect and thereby makes them not suitable for leadership.

[LWolf]

126. As someone who demonstrated on streets

in an MIC-supported region, enduring vegetables and other less savory things thrown at me, and epithets screamed at me, while way too many politicians turned a blind eye and gave GWB and his administration legitimacy that they hadn't earned, I agree.

[DinahMoeHum]

132. FEBRUARY 15, 2003 - Anybody from DU participate?

especially in NYC??

I tried to hook up with you DU folks in NYC, but couldn't find y'all with the crowds, police, and holding fences/pens out there, so, at the last minute, I cast my lot with the WBAI/Pacifica Radio crowd. As it turned out, we were just 1 city block away from the stage. I wore a Walkman and tuned into WBAI so I could hear the stage speakers properly as well as hear all the supplemental interviews with folks like Laura Flanders and Dennis Kucinich.
Somehow, a few hours later, I snaked my way out of the area just as Holly Near finished singing "I Ain't Afraid".

Froze my butt off that day and didn't quite thaw out until two days later.

[deutsey]

139. I was there

[WillyT]

136. Thanks Everybody...

[woo me with science]

140. K&R