'It is deeply irresponsible to rewrite history'

Lee Ballard

The term "Bush's War" is often used as a replacement title for Operation Iraqi Freedom. The implication is that President George W. Bush went to war unilaterally, using faulty intelligence, he "lied" the nation into a war he alone created. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Bush said, "While it is perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war - it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began." Herewith are a few of the rewrite omissions.

. Congress, via several public laws and resolutions, began the military push into Iraq for the second time long before Bush took office; their last action resulted in Public Law 105-338, The Iraq Liberation Act of 1998, signed by President Bill Clinton. The law stipulated, "It is the sense of the Congress that once the Saddam Hussein regime is removed from power in Iraq, the United States should support Iraq's transition to democracy."

. The act led to Operation Desert Fox in 1998. Clinton said, "Our purpose is clear: We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program. Saddam must not be allowed to threaten his neighbors or the world with nuclear arms, poison gas or biological weapons. Earlier today, I ordered America's armed forces to strike military and security targets in Iraq. They are joined by British forces. Their mission is to attack Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological-weapons programs and its military capacity to threaten its neighbors."

. When Bush was sworn into office in 2001, his administration was handed eight years' worth of Iraq intelligence analyses and policy positions from the Clinton years. Notably, Bush retained Clinton's CIA director, George Tenet, who became the trendsetter of the Bush administration's position on Iraq.

Republicans in Congress worried about Iraq, but they were not alone. In the months leading up to the invasion of Iraq, many Democrats, who had access to the same intelligence used by the Bush administration (some compiled by Clinton experts), also were clearly concerned about the Iraq threat.

. Sen. Harry Reid, now Senate majority leader: "Saddam has thumbed his nose at the world community, and I think the president is approaching this in the right fashion."

. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, now speaker of the House: "Saddam Hussein certainly has chemical and biological weapons; there is no question about that."

. Sen. John Kerry: "I will be voting to give the president of the U.S. the authority to use force if necessary to disarm Saddam because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security."

. Sen. Ted Kennedy: "We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction."

. Sen. Hillary Clinton: "In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological-weapons stock, his missile-delivery capability, his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort and sanctuary to terrorists including al-Qaida members. I can support the president because I think it is in the long-term interests of our national security."

Public Law 107-243, the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq - passed in 2002 by a huge majority in the House and Senate and approved by 75 percent of Americans - authorized the president to use the military as he "determines to be necessary and appropriate" to implement PL105-338 and several other public laws and U.N. resolutions.
In the legislation Congress stated that Iraq "poses a continuing threat to the national security of the United States [by] continuing to possess and develop a significant chemical and biological weapons capability, actively seeking a nuclear weapons capability, and supporting and harboring terrorist organizations."

The assessment was echoed by intelligence agencies from countries that included Great Britain, France, Germany and Russia, and by the United Nations Security Council in more than a dozen different Security Council resolutions between 1990 and 2000.

Former U.S. weapons inspector David Kay, testifying before Congress in January 2004, said "Let me begin by saying, we were almost all wrong, and I certainly include myself here. Sen. [Edward] Kennedy knows very directly. Sen. Kennedy and I talked on several occasions prior to the war that my view was that the best evidence that I had seen was that Iraq indeed had weapons of mass destruction."

An exchange between (then NBC news anchor) Tom Brokaw and Kay is more definitive. Brokaw: "A lot of the president's critics are going to say, 'This is clear evidence that he lied to the American people.'" Kay: "Well Tom, if they do that, I think we're really hurting ourselves. I think if anyone was abused by the intelligence, it was the president, not the other way around."

The military is doing now just what it has been doing since it first deployed overseas during the Spanish-American War in 1898. It is still fighting foreign battles, presently pursuing the PL 105-338 goal to "support Iraq's transition to democracy."

Since many in Congress now overlook their role in developing PL 105-338 and PL 107-423, this perhaps is, in a twisted sense, "Bush's War."

Lee Ballard is a resident of Southern Bibb County.