Gephardt: "I was wrong."

[Caro]

Gephardt on Iraq: "I was wrong"

Former House Minority Leader the Hon. Dick Gephardt was in Seattle last week on several accounts -- a victory lap for his mediation of the Boeing strike, a business seminar for the DC law firm where he hangs his hat, and a funder for Rep. Jim McDermott's Legal Expense Trust.

At this odd-couple tag-team appearance -- "Baghdad Jim" McDermott and "Rose Garden Richard" Gephardt -- the inevitable question was voiced: "Why did you support Bush on the Iraq War, and what would you do differently now?".

Rep. Gephardt's response is reproduced here from my verbatim notes, with his confirmation and concurrence, as a perspective that deserves attention both to fill gaps in the first draft of history and to smooth cracks in the road to progressive political unity…

2005-10-11, Seattle, WA:

GEPHARDT: "It was a mistake ... I was wrong."

The Rose Garden compact was a mistake. The War Powers vote was a mistake. Trusting this Administration was a mistake…

Act for Change

Join thousands in demand to Senators and Representatives who voted for war

"Knowing what we know now, I regret voting to give President Bush a blank check to invade Iraq."

http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/petition.cfm?itemid=19754&ms=n03hdl

Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable

[endarkenment]

1. Finally. Yo Dem leaders: learn how to speak truth. eom.

[babylonsister]

2. And that, in a nutshell, is what all Dems need to say. They

were hornswoggled, they need to 'fess up and work to change their positions on Iraq imo.

[oregonindy]

3. yep the culture of corruption is not just limited to repugs....

[EST]

5. You said a mouthful. (keyboard full?)

[swimboy]

4. Welcome to DU, Caro!

:hi:

[Caro]

17. Thanks

Thanks, swimboy!

Caro

[blm]

6. That last sentence is incorrect and lets Bush off the hook.

IWR had guidelines to meet. The IWR would have PREVENTED War if administered HONESTLY.

Every time the IWR is described as a blank check it lets Bush off the hook as if he was given NO guidelines to administer.

NO Democrat would have invaded Iraq after the weapons inspections were proving force was unnecessary. Bush ALONE said that force was necessary even after weapons inspectors were proving that was not the case.

I agree with John Bonifaz that Bush should be impeached USING the IWR as the reason. Bush sent an OFFICIAL letter to Congress when he invaded as per the IWR, and stated that after diplomacy and weapons inspections he determined that force was unavoidable and necessary.

He lied in an official document.

Impeachable offense.

[flpoljunkie]

9. Right on! Bush lied, acted in bad faith re IWR & took the nation to war!

All the while running around lying through his teeth. saying, "War was his last resort."

If that is not an impeachable offense, nothing is!

[Debi]

10. What Democrat w/any intelligence would trust the administration?

Who REALLY thought that Bush wasn't going to invade? He STOLE a fucking national election. He gave MASSIVE tax cuts to his buddies. WHAT DEMOCRAT would think, "Well, he can't be ALL BAD"?

[blm]

11. They didn't. They trusted people around him like Powell and Scowcroft

would assure the guidelines were met.

The DSM proved they had no intention of meeting those guidelines honestly. That is why the DSM inquiry in the Senate was so important. What was discovered there could be used for impeachment.

Only TEN Senators would sign on to the letter of inquiry last June.

[Debi]

12. Scowcroft lost his power when Clinton left

AND he was agaisnt the IWR from the get-go, this wasn't his fault.

This is what we get when we hold our fingers up to test the political winds rather than trusting our own guts to tell us what is wrong and what is right (and by right I mean left!!)

[blm]

13. Scowcroft was Rice's mentor on defense issues. She bucked him unexpectedly

on this to throw her lot in with Cheney.

[Debi]

15. Don't say bad words about our future Vice President n/t

[blm]

16. HAHAHAHAH.....very likely....unless she gets caught in the net.

.

[welshTerrier2]

14. "if administered HONESTLY"

just for clarity, and i agree with everything you wrote, the mistake Democrats made voting for the IWR was that they trusted bush to be HONEST ... the reason i opposed the IWR was that bush lied about the aluminum tubes; he lied about the Niger forgeries; PNAC was planning Iraq since Gulf I; and the US has a long, dark history of imperialism in the Middle East ... bush filled in his little IWR fill-in-the-blank form and tens of thousands of lives have been destroyed and the country is at far greater risk ... the good news is, he'll pay for his lies and his crimes but it wasn't worth the damage this insane war has caused ...

and the reason Democrats who believe we need to stay in Iraq "for any purpose" are STILL WRONG is because you have the same lying asshole running the show and his objectives have NOT changed ... we can't get there from here!!!

when Democrats are in the WH and have some control in Congress, and you still want to "make things better in Iraq with US troops in occupation", give me a call ... at that point, i'd be willing to hear your arguments ...

but staying in Iraq with imperialists at the controls??? i'm telling you it's insane and we need to get out as quickly as the world's only superpower can do ...

[sandnsea]

20. Give me a friggin' break

You MAY have known about the aluminum tubes in Oct 2002, you sure as hell didn't know about the Niger forgeries because NOBODY knew about them when the vote happened. Just another clairvoyant who "knew" things no public official in the world knew.

[sandnsea]

19. Gephardt, what a prize

Fucks up Biden-Lugar and then fucks up the IWR vote altogether. With friends like this...

[panader0]

7. Got 'er done

All DUers should sign.

[Caro]

18. Thanks

Thanks, panader0!

Caro

[Debi]

8. When I saw this I thought 'finally'

Then I remembered that Gep. was the architect of the whole fucking thing :grr:

Granted, he and Daschle paid the price for dancing with George in the Rose Garden. But maybe they could have worked on LEADING the opposition party instead of kissing the administrations ass??? :mad:

I don't feel a bit sorry for him and his losses. The mess he made of the 2002 elections with this go-along-get-along crap makes me sick.

I only hope other Dems who still have a political career will realize that it's time to admit their mistakes as well.

Hillary? do you hear me?

[win_in_06]

21. Future VP candidate. Should have been selected by Kerry