To my mind, the war to depose Saddam is still justifiable, morally important, and will, if we stay the course, eventually be regarded as an important milestone in the war against terror. But at the same time, it seems to me that there’s no denying that the actual case made by the Bush administration for war was built on false information. Listen to what Republican Senator Pat Roberts said on “Meet The Press” yesterday. He was asked if the Senate would have voted for war if Senators knew then what we know now, in terms of the WMD intelligence fiasco:
“I think the whole premise would have changed, I think the whole debate would have changed, and I think that the response would have changed in terms of any kind of military plans. Very difficult to look in the rear-view mirror, 20/20 hindsight and say what you would have done under those circumstances.- Jay [Rockefeller] has indicated he wouldn’t have voted for it.- Jay has also indicated that there probably wouldn’t have been the votes to go to war.- I think if we went back to the no-fly zones and the resolutions by the U.N. and an awful lot of talk, I doubt if the votes would have been there.”
So if we had had accurate intelligence, the war would not have taken place. I reiterate: I’m still glad we fought it. But this remains one of the biggest government screw-ups in recent history. It has made future pre-emption based on intelligence close to impossible. And President Bush is ultimately responsible for this. Tenet has taken the fall, but it will take years and years before the U.S. regains the reputation for credibility that this president has destroyed. Even if you believe that Bush is still the best man to fight this war, you also have to concede that his record includes at least one massive error, and one that will cripple our ability to fight the war in the future.
AUSTIN VERSUS DR EVIL: My take on the fascinating Edwards-Cheney contrast.
STONEWALLING ON TORTURE: I’ve let up on the administration on the Abu Ghraib and torture issues because I found their released memos to be persuasive evidence that they did not condone such tactics. But that does not mean they should release no more data or be as resistant to investigation as they have become. The Washington Post yesterday kept up the pressure. They should. So should Senator Warner. The question of whether someone high up in the administration condoned illegal torture is not a minor one; and scapegoating of minions, if that is what is going on, is unconscionable.
The Dish 