Reply #37: Good start but not enough [View All]

[truthspeaker]

To be credible about Iraq, a Dem candidate has to do more than say it was a mistake to go it alone. He needs to say it was a mistake to go to war at all. The reason Bush went forward alone is because the rest of the world was not willing to start a war because they knew that Saddam was not a serious threat. It turned out they were right and Bush was wrong. Bush lied to Congress and the American people about the threat posed by Saddam. Bush ignored pre-war intelligence and reconstruction plans from the State Department.

Most importantly: the war in Iraq is a distraction from the war against the terrorist movement that attacked the United States on 9/11/2001. It's that simple. Starting a second war against Iraq has made the United States more vulnerable to terrorism than we were before 9/11.

The Dem message should be that the United States should not start wars of colonial aggression. A free society should only use military force to defend itself and its allies or to intervene in a humanitarian crisis. Invading countries so we can put military bases there or take natural resources that do not belong to us isn't just morally wrong, it's bad for national security because it alienates our allies and turns neutrals into hostiles.