The Toughest
Vote
Memorial day
is a day to remember that I gave President Bush the go ahead for the war on
Terror. A group of Saudi religious fanatics commandeered four Jetliners and
launched attacks on the towers in New York, the Pentagon and a site never to be
known. Perhaps the White House or the Capitol Building itself was the goal.
That day was
a day of chaos in Washington and in the nation at large. The Constitution gives
the power to declare war to the Congress in 1789. But over the years this power
has been given to the President by the inaction of the Congress. If you ask most Americans when we last declared
war, if they have any idea, the say 1941 after Pearl Harbor. We did declare war
against Japan, Germany and Italy in Dec 1941. But the last Congressional Declaration
was in June 1942 against Bulgaria, Hungary and Rumania.
But you say,
“What about Korea, Vietnam, Grenada or other places where troops have been sent?”
A President can launch the country into war and then dare the Congress not to
fund his actions. Ever since 1942 the President
has been acting unilaterally.
A few days after
the disastrous events in New York and Washington, D.C. George Bush II came to
the Congress and asked for a declaration of War on Terror. We debated whether the
President’s proposal was too open ended, but in the end, we did. Many of us knew we were giving a blank check
to people who were lusting for war. We talked among selves about other
approaches to Saudi strike on America. Only one member of Congress, Barbara Lee
from Oakland, California was the only No vote in the entire Congress. Voting
yes was the easy vote because if you voted No, you would have to endlessly
explain why you didn’t support the President and the country in its moment of
need. There is no vote I regret more than that vote.
Why? We
unleashed the forces propelling Bush to invade Afghanistan. Afghanistan had
provided training camps for the Saudi invaders. But we punished all the people
of Afghanistan with endless devastation because Osama bin Laden had operated
from this country. And it is still going on today because of that vote.
Worse, however,
is what followed. Once President Bush and Vice President Chaney smelled blood,
they decided to do regime change in Iraq, most at the behest of the oil
companies who were tired of dealing with a troublesome awful leader in Iraq
named Saddam Hussein. They ignored the lessons of regime change efforts by Bill
Clinton in Somalia. “Those who fail to
learn from history are bound to repeat it.”
They came to
Congress for a resolution to authorize use of Military force in Iraq only. The President
believed he had the authorization from our previous action on Terror. On October
10-11 the
House (296-133) and the Senate (77-23) supported invasion of Iraq. Seventeen
years later we are celebrating the deaths of thousands of Americans and untold
millions of Afghanis, Iraqis, Syrians, Yemenis and to what end.
No member of
Congress should ever forget that he or she sent people to die for no good
purpose. I spent two years in the USN
during the Vietnam War, taking care of soldiers, sailors and Marines who came
back from that foolish war. Memorial Day, for me is a day to remember all those
who “survived” the war with PTSD as well as obvious physical injuries.
The people,
by electing us, have given us enormous responsibility by giving the Congress to
decide if we should strike another country. I read today that the vice
President is predicting endless war today at the West Point graduation. Authoritarian leaders have led their
countries into disaster in the past. The
idea that killing endless civilians will make us safer is a dangerous
delusion. We must not attack Venezuela
or Iran or North Korea.
