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 W. Bush II came
to the Congress and asked for a declaration of War on Terror. The Congress
debated whether the President’s proposal was too open ended, but in the end, Many
Democrats did vote for it. Many of us
knew we were giving a blank check to an administration who were lusting for
war. Those who we against it talked among selves about other approaches to
Saudi strike on America. Only one member of Congress, Barbara Lee from Oakland,
California voted No. 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 Neocons who propelled Bush
to invade Afghanistan. Afghanistan had provided training camps for the Saudi
invaders. But The Congress punished all the people of Afghanistan with endless
devastation because Osama bin Laden had operated from this country. And this
war 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, mostly at the behest of the oil companies who were
tired of dealing with a troublesome awful leader in Iraq named Saddam Hussein. Bush
and Company ignored the lessons of regime change efforts by Bill Clinton in
Somalia. “Those who fail to learn from
history are bound to repeat it.”
Bush came to Congress for a resolution to authorize
use of Military force in Iraq only. The President believed he had the
authorization because of 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 mourning 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. I”ve sent me into battle by my statement of “fit
for Duty.”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 Congress enormous responsibility by giving the duty
to Congress to decide if our military should strike another country. I read today that
the Vice President is predicting endless war 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.
