[moki]

"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line." - President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998

"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program." - President Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998

Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face." - Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998

"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten time since 1983." - Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18,1998

"[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs." - Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI), Tom Daschle (D-SD), John Kerry( D - MA), and others Oct. 9,1998

"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." - Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998

"Hussein has . chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies." > - Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999

"There is no doubt that ... Saddam Hussein has invigorated his weapons programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs continue apace and may be back to pre-Gulf War status. In addition, Saddam continues to redefine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of a licit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the United States and our allies." - Letter to President Bush, Signed by Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL,) and others, December 5, 2001

"We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandated of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them." - Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002

"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country." - Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002

"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power." - Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002

"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction." - Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002

"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons..." - Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002

"I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force-- if necessary-- to disarm Saddam Hussein 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. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9,2002

"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years . We also should remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction."- Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002

"He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do" - Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002

"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weap ons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members.. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons." - Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002

"We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction." - Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), Dec. 8, 2002

"Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction ... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real" - Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003

[MacGorilla]

"Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction ... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real" - Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003

Yepper, his stand on the war was the reason I didn't vote to reelect him 2002 and it also makes me hesitate to vote for him for President.

[xenu]

'The leader of Britain's major opposition party says he would not have supported the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, in a parliamentary vote in favour of war in Iraq had he known about flaws in British intelligence.

"If I knew then what I know now, that would have caused a difficulty. I couldn't have voted for that resolution," Michael Howard, leader of the Conservative Party, said in an interview with The Sunday Times newspaper.'

[slow moe]

Kerry was shown the same exact intel reports as the President, came to the same conclusion as the President, and voted to authorize the President to use force aqainst Iraq. The President has stood by his convictions unwavering under the utmost pressure, Kerry did not.

[tie]

Originally posted by slow moe:
Kerry was shown the same exact intel reports as the President.

This is not true. The president had access to more intelligence.

I'm not sure what you're point here is, moki. The fact is that the sanctions were working very well. Iraq couldn't even maintain its military, let alone strengthen it with WMD. Bush managed to rebuild international support around the sanctions, and there was every likelihood of them becoming more effective, less subject to corruption, and more humane. Then he squandered it by deciding to go to war with Iraq. He's the one who made that decision, and he is the one to blame.

"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line." - President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998

"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program." - President Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998

These are good quotes. Clinton's Iraq policy in retrospect was a success. With vigilance, we were able to entirely shut down any WMD program in Iraq. Bush's Iraq policy is a failure in terms of its stated goals. At the cost of nearly $200 billion from US taxpayers, he has built a breeding ground for terrorism.

Here's another interesting quote:

Originally posted by moki:
Yes, it will certainly be on par, IMHO, if it turns out to to be the case. I supported the war, and I still think the results of the war are a good thing regardless of the pretext.

However, we were sold a bill of goods by the entire current government in the US re: Iraq's WMD. If they are not found, impeachment proceedings would be in order.

At the very least, Mr. Bush will not obtain re-election if it plays out that WMD are not found -- you can bet the Democrats will be all over this in 6 months. It won't be forgotten.

[slow moe]

Originally posted by tie:
This is not true. The president had access to more intelligence.

In other words, Kerry was shown the same exact intel reports as the President, came to the same conclusion as the President, and voted to authorize the President to use force aqainst Iraq. The President has stood by his convictions unwavering under the utmost pressure, Kerry did not.

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

Those quotes just prove what a shameless ‘finger to the wind, saying whatever is politically expedient’ party the Democrats often are. Republicans don’t get a clean slate either, but the Democrats are just truly shameless at it.

Currently, Democrats think it’s politically expedient to pretend everything is a quagmire, to give Saddam et al the benefit of the doubt, while doubting EVERY action of the US (even when they called for the same actions), and to whine about taking out Saddam because a Republican actually did what they only ranted about. (Gee how history repeats itself with that!) So they’re currently fleeing like roaches from their own ‘tough talk’ of the previous administration. “We never said that!” “Well we said it, but we didn’t actually mean what we said, we really meant blah blah blah…”

But I’ve said it before, and you can mark my words as I say it again: When the tide of history turns against the left as the situation in Iraq inevitably improves to the point where their current shenanigans come off to future generations with all the assclown appeal of a ‘Chamberlain’, watch the Dems FALL ALL OVER THEMSELVES to trot out their 1990’s ‘tough-talk’ positions with such conviction it’ll make your head spin! They’ll be scrambling faster to get ‘hawk’ props, than John Kerry scrambled to replace his long-tossed ‘Nam medals!

Bank on it.

I know that I’ll laugh my ass off when I actually hear some bitter leftist in the future lecture on and on about all the protest marches against Saddam Hussein they attended during the 2000’s!

“What? You don’t remember all those massive leftist protests against that evil, rotten, bastard Saddam?!! Well listen buddy, I WAS THERE…!!”

Calling someone who disagrees with a leftist a “Saddam” will be all the rage on the left, after the myth comes to pass that it was those tough-talkin’, liberation-lovin’ Democrat hawks that ousted him.

I bet you there will even be a certain crowd that’ll carry on with: ‘America was LATE for the Iraq war! Why didn’t the US do something earlier like EVERBODY ELSE did? Everyone else in the world just bawled their eyes out over all those poor, poor, pitiful people that Saddam killed, but *boo hoo snivel whine* the Americans were late and didn’t stop him blah blah…”

As ridiculous and bizarre as it sounds now, don’t be surprised when you someday hear such spouted by loud-mouthed ‘never admit they were wrong’ liberals as the absolute gospel truth.