Yet another Republican has feelings about the misinformation campaign waged by neo-con war mongers in Washington. US Representative Walter Jones, a conservative Republican, in his own words…
- “If I had known then what I know today, I wouldn’t have voted for that resolution. Absolutely not,” he said Thursday in an interview.
- “To me, there should be somebody that is large enough to say, ‘We made a mistake’,” Jones said, almost in tears with frustration. He said he and other lawmakers want to ensure they are never again asked to authorize a war with bad information.
Walter Jones joins this brief list, please add to it in comments…
Rep. Doug Bereuter retiring republican from Nebraska:
- “I’ve reached the conclusion, retrospectively, now that the inadequate intelligence and faulty conclusions are being revealed, that all things being considered, it was a mistake to launch that military action, especially without a broad and engaged international coalition,”
- “The cost in casualties is already large and growing, and the immediate and long-term financial costs are incredible.”
- “Left unresolved for now is whether intelligence was intentionally misconstrued to justify military action,”
- He said the administration was wrong to disband the Iraqi army — because so many of its members joined forces with the insurgents — and was wrong to rely on the Defense Department instead of the State Department to spearhead reconstruction and the interim government.
- He also said the administration was wrong to ignore military leaders who warned many more troops would be needed in Iraq to maintain the postwar peace.
- “Now we are immersed in a dangerous, costly mess and there is no easy and quick way to end our responsibilities in Iraq without creating bigger future problems in the region and, in general, in the Muslim world,”
- Bereuter said it was important for the executive and legislative branches of government to learn from the “errors and failures” relating to the war in Iraq and its aftermath.
All joining the once lone dissenter Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island.
