Washington Senator Maria Cantwell is "observing elections" in Iraq today. This seems like a sudden development...last week she had a fundraiser scheduled in Seattle with Hillary Clinton tomorrow, Friday the 16th. I hear that has now been rescheduled to late January at QWest Field, the SeaHawks stadium.
I hate to be so cynical, but why do I fully expect her to return gushing about "Democracy" in Iraq, how she has seen the joy of the populace, now liberated from Saddam's tyranny, with her very own eyes. So she KNOWS she (and Hillary) did the right thing in supporting regime change, and voting YES on the Iraq War Resolution. Together at the fundraiser next month, they can celebrate a Mutual Admiration Society. (Continued below)
Last month I diaried about our peace coalition lobbying Cantwell's office, because of her stubborn silence on the realities that so disturb us: Lies disseminated in the run-up to invasion, widespread corruption and graft, out-of-control violence, abuse of detainees, suffering of civilians, suppression of unembedded reportage, Big Oil robber barons, war profiteers, the list goes on...
Surprising meeting! Anti-war activists lobby Cantwell's office
So--is Cantwell's trip a pre-scripted "Purple Finger" photo-op? If not, will she speak with unembedded journalists or uncensored GIs? Will she "observe" the bombed-out towns, factories, and bridges, the devastated hospitals, untold thousands of civilian amputees and burn victims, widows and orphans?
Will she agree with Bush that it's all "worth it"?