War Children

[Martin Eden]

11. "everyone here knew the administration was full of shit"

If we knew, shouldn't our elected representatives in Congress have known as well? Isn't it their duty to be well informed in matters of government, and especially in matters of war and peace?

I was devastated in October 2002 when 81 Democrats in the House (39%) and 29 in the Senate (58%) voted to give GW Bush authority to invade Iraq. Here at DU we knew that once given the authority, Bush would invade. The administration of GW Bush & Dick Cheney would not act in good faith, having built their case on a foundation of lies and half truths.Their PNAC policy makers had been pushing for an aggressive war of regime change in Iraq since before 9/11.

I was especially devastated when John Kerry, who garnered national attention as a leader of Vietnam Vets against the war, voted for the IWR. We desperately needed strong Democratic leaders to stand up and speak truth to power against this disastrous war before it was launched, but far too many let us down. Were they really uninformed, or did they stick their fingers into the post-9/11 political winds and calculate an advantage to being "strong" on national security with midterm elections coming up? Were they fooled into thinking Bush would act in good faith? Were they on board with the neocon agenda?

John Kerry would have gained advantage as our Democratic nominee for president in 2004 if he had showed strong leadership and voted against the IWR instead of trying to explain how he was for a bill to fund the war before he was against it. I think he would have won the presidency, and much could have been different. Hillary's vote for the IWR was a disadvantage in 2016, whereas Obama's opposition helped in 2008.

What does all this mean for 2020?

Much depends on whether our Democratic leaders learned the necessary lessons. It will be easier to oppose Trump's warmongering proclivities than "popular wartime president" GW Bush, but they may still be wary of looking "weak" against Iran.

Trump is angry, and perhaps desperate. I don't doubt for one second he would try to find advantage in taking us to war. I wish I had no doubts about Democratic leadership standing up against the folly of war with Iran, but the track record gives me pause.