It is important that the country understand what rationale was employed to embark us on a war with Iraq. We were told that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD), that there was a connection between Al Qaeda and Iraq and that without forceful intervention in Iraq, the United States would confront a nuclear armed Iraq very soon. It appears that at a minimum, the Bush Administration had competing intelligence strongly asserting the opposite on at least two of their reasons for war with Iraq. At worst, the Bush team intentionally ignored contradictory intelligence, misled the American people about the danger Iraq posed and wrongly and dangerously sent Americans to war. As a Congressman who gave President Bush the benefit of the doubt about the threats posed by Iraq I - and the American people - want answers to these questions.I am inclined to believe that Senate and House hearings can get the answers I want. But, I could easily be persuaded that an independent panel will get the answers more swiftly and definitively. The Bush White House's absence of rules regarding staff conduct detrimental to the President's credibility is straining Bush's ability to get things done and causing many Americans to question the President's honesty about Iraq. If I were him, I would want to know how Cheney and his top staff were so wrong about the presence of WMD, post Saddam Iraq's willingness to accept freedom and democracy and the strength of the insurgency. On each front, President Bush and his team were wrong.
In addition to congressional oversight or an independent counsel studying the pre-war intelligence issues, President Bush should ask for resignations among several of his senior staff. To rekindle confidence among ordinary Americans about government's honesty and integrity, a new team is needed.
One of the reasons I believe our campaign is connecting with voters is that people view our candidacy as the best chance to change business as usual in Washington. People don't expect perfect politicians. But, they do want and deserve humility, integrity and honesty from those of us privileged to serve .
Answers and change are needed. For those who want to help bring about this change, please click here to contribute to our campaign.
Sincerely,
Harold
Via: Campaign email
