I believe the Iraq War, the war that we as liberals have been castigating George Bush for getting us into, is the litmus test for my Presidential vote. The war that Dick Cheney's Halliburton has made billions off of. The same war that gave us the Abu Graeb torture scandal. The war that created a private mercenary Army beholden to no government. The war that has killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, maimed and injured tens of thousands civilians and US military personnel. The very war that has left almost four thousand American soldiers dead. The war that has produced numerous scandals like the Valerie Plame outing.
So much evidence has been dug up to prove that we were led into this war based on lies. Yet now I'm supposed to trust the very same people that were "duped" and continue to fund this clusterfck? The very same people that fell for the "we have to invade Iraq now"? I don't think so. I’m sorry but war is a decision that must be thought out very carefully and it must a decision of last resort, when all else fails.
John Edwards has since apologized for his vote and support of the Iraq war, but back in 2002, he sounded like one of the neo-cons that we despise so much. I am now supposed to give him a pass? I might as well forgive George W, Cheney and the rest of the Republican war mongers.
Hillary voted for the war and has voted to continue funding it. She hasn't completely backed off of her initial vote. She did try to tell Tim Russert on Meet the Press that she thought she was voting on getting the inspectors back in. Tim had to remind Hillary what the name of that bill was, "Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution". This was a Condoleezza Rice-like moment, like when Condi testified to Congress that, "I don't remember the Al Qaida cells as being something that we were told we needed to do something about." and Richard Ben-Veniste asked her what the name of the August 6th PDB was and she had to reply." Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States".
Hillary also voted for the Lieberman/Kyl Iran saber-rattling bill, which only proves that she isn't the right person to make another decision about leading this country into a war.
Barak Obama wasn't a Senator at the time of the Iraq vote, so he gets a pass on that. Maybe he would have voted against it, I can't be sure. But Obama has voted numerous times to continue funding this god awful war. How can I, with good conscience, vote for a man who is against something, but funds it. It would be like a pro-life Senator being against abortion, but voting to federally fund abortion clinics. In 2002, he said: "I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences." But then used this excuse for voting to fund it, "It was not clear that President Bush was going to drag this out over several years."
I will not and cannot forget this war. That is why I cannot vote for Hillary, Obama, or John Edwards.
About 6 months ago, I was a supporter of John Edwards. I dreamed of an Edwards/Clark ticket, but then I saw this video on YouTube. As I watched it, I started to get a little throw up in the back of my throat.
I then searched to see if I could find Hillary's speech about the Iraq war. Her speech seemed a little less neo-conish than Edwards, but the end result was that Hillary voted YES.
By chance, I happened upon this YouTube clip, and I was changed from that point on. I am not on the same page as Ron Paul on many issues, but for me there is only ONE issue that a president needs to be able to make without error, and that is war, let alone a pre-emptive war. I don't believe I can trust the top three democratic candidates with that decision again.
Okay, now you can all call me a "Paultard" or a "RonBot" or maybe a racist, sexist pig. Remember that all the money that's been spent on this atrocity, some say a trillion dollars, could have been spent on social and entitlement programs here at home. The very programs that you support.