WooHoo !! Dean tells the truth -- AGAIN!

[Eloriel]

"I Seek Accountability"
http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/000690.html#more


WASHINGTON—While campaigning in the nation’s capital today, Governor Dean made the following statement regarding recent developments: “It only becomes more and more clear every day what a mistake this administration made in launching a pre-emptive war in Iraq. The evidence mounts that not only did the Administration mislead the American people and the world in making its case for war but that it failed to plan adequately for the peace.

“Today, we are paying the price: in lives lost, in a $100 billion price tag that only rises daily, and in the toll on our reputation around the world.

“There was a time and a place for questioning the veracity of the evidence being presented about the war. There was a time for asking the tough questions about the rationale for war, the planning for peace and the cost of the mission—and that time was before the first shot was fired. It was the duty of our elected representatives in Congress to ask the toughest possible questions about our purpose and our plans before signing a blank check for the Bush administration to wage pre-emptive war.

“Before the war began, I asked these questions and made it clear that the evidence did not support a pre-emptive war and that our failure to engage the international community would damage our credibility and security in the long-term.

“Today I ask: why are members of Congress running for president asking the tough questions today that they failed to ask before the war?

“I seek accountability. There are those in the administration who clearly misled the American people and the world. There needs to be an immediate bipartisan independent investigation and those responsible in the administration shouldn’t wait for the outcome of the investigation, they should resign today. But I also seek accountability from those who voted to give the President a blank check without asking the tough questions when they needed to be asked and long after it’s clear how mistaken this path was for our nation.

“The challenge now is to move forward. Our intelligence on the ground continues to be weak. Our soldiers are increasingly in harm’s way. We still don’t have adequate plans for securing the peace. And the administration is still not being honest about the realities of occupying Iraq and the commitment and resources necessary for the long-run.

“These are the serious questions that need to be asked: how long will we be there? How much will it cost? All of these are questions that should have been debated and discussed beforehand. That we are only debating those questions today is a failure of the leadership in Washington, both of this administration and of Congress.”

[hedda_foil]

1. Telling it like it is!

Saying what needs to be said. Someone on the blog called him the shadow president. Damn straight! Someone has to do it, and Dean is the only one with the gonads to say it loud and clear.

[caledesi]

18. Shadow President? I like that HF!

This man has it all together. Not only is he saying we were misled, but he explains the price we are paying now because there was no real debate, no peace plan....

[Joeve]

2. Dean wasn't the only one saying this

But he was the loudest and the clearest. It was so easy for the repigs to talk about anyone who was against the war being a terrorist who loved Hussein, would they be able to go to our soldiers now and tell them "how important" it was for them to go over there?

Is the tide finally turning? I hope so.

[Pastiche423]

3. God I love that "R" word!

RESIGN!

:bounce: GO DEAN! :bounce:

[tkmorris]

4. I LIKE Dean but....

I do wish he directed more vitriole at the pResident instead of at the other Dems. I'm not saying he's wrong but at some point it gets self-destructive I'm afraid. There will be plenty of time in the debates and on the trail during the primaries to make his case about the other Dems, right now we need more to hammer on Bush's credibilty than say, Kerry's.

[fshrink]

5. The substance of the matter is in the A word.

Accountability. Short of that you, me, all of us, are non-entities.

[drdigi420]

25. Bush is only accountable

to a fictional magic man in the sky.

This is why religion is SO dangerous when in the hands of someone with power. STOP VOTING FOR HOLY ROLLERS!

[RC]

6. Right now he is running against the rest of the dem wannabe's till

he get the nomination. Then Dean or whoever will campaign against whatever the gop tries to float.

[Classical_Liberal]

8. The DLC started it by trying to marginalize Dean, when he is right

and proving more right everyday.

[sandnsea]

9. I agree

Not to mention the entire Congress. Nice way to start a Presidency with the entire Congress pissed at you. What he's saying needs to be said, I wish he could fine-tune that part of his message a bit I guess.

[Classical_Liberal]

13. The only way they would be happy is if Dean approved of the resolution

too. He is proving right, and those who let this happen are proving wrong. He is not the one that should eat humble pie. He has created an issue with which to beat Bush, by sticking to his guns. The problem is the political advisors in the Democratic Party, not the congress per say. The dems clearly are listening to the wrong ones.

[northernsoul]

34. remember, lots of congressional Dems DIDN'T vote the resolution

I know that my Senator Mark Dayton and my rep Betty McCallum sure as hell didn't. I think most of the rest of the Minnesota DFL contingent didn't either.

[DrPepper]

11. I agree, but...

Dean's strategy is to be out ahead of the other Democrats. He may over do it, but that's the chance you take in trying to be in the vanguard. It's a bet that the populace will catch up with you later.

[Eloriel]

17. What you may not understand

is that his target wasn't JUST his opponents. It was ALL of Congress, including Repugs.

Now, what's the value in this? FIrst, it reminds average citizens of a little thing called statesmanship, which I define as: doing the right thing for your COUNTRY, and damn the political consequences.

Two, it will be much easier to defeat Bush if Congress (esp. the Dem side) grows a backbone and actually does their freakin' JOB. An important corollary to this is that it will be better for the COUNTRY in the meantime if the Dems (and Repugs) actually do their freakin' jobs, nevermind who wins the nomination.

Eloriel

[caledesi]

19. Good explanation El. I was trying to gather my thoughts, but couldn't

You did it for me.

Besides I really believe if HD hadn't come along, the Dems would be tying yellow roses on the columns of the Capital, telling us to be patient about the WMDs, still arguing about patriotism. HD is a leader.

[ProfessorPlum]

24. He's actually giving them an out -

They can start attacking this war (hanging it like the albatross it is around Bush's neck) just as vigorously as he is - he is trying to start a competition to see who can criticize Bush the most - he is saying that whoever criticizes Bush the most is the winner, and right now, it is him. This is such a winning strategy, not only for Dean but for all the Democrats. Let Kerry come along and criticize this stupid, costly, expensive, inhuman, and illegal war as much as Dean. Then we all win.

This is why I can't understand everyone saying that Dean has to run with a "pro-war" running mate. This war is such a policy f*ck up on so many levels, there will be no end to the laundry list of ways that Bush's idiocy can be attacked if you just accept that maybe the war isn't the most wonderful victory ever and that Bush was right to drag us into it.

Good job, Dean.

[Woodstock]

33. Good point - they can join him if they want to

If the congressional Dems want to speak out against the things Dean is, well, that's fine, too. Instead of working with the pResident, let's hear them act like an opposition party. If they can't make political hay out of all they have to work with right now, they never will - and they deserve all the criticism they can get. The status quo is NOT acceptable - I'm a lifelong Dem, but they MUST give me a reason for continuing to support them. Approving invasions and tax cuts and conservative judicial nominees is NOT the way to go about it.

[Quahog]

32. Agreed, but as I've suggested before

The man is currently waging two campaigns, one against Bush*, and the more important one (for now) against his fellow Dems. If he doesn't differentiate himself in the primary race, he'll never get the chance to wage a full-scale assault on Bush*. One of the big distinguishing factors is certainly the candidates' statements and legislative actions prior to the invasion. Some voted for the war powers act, some against, but none of the candidates with seats in congress stood up in front of their peers and declared the truth. Senator Byrd was pretty much alone in this (although Kucinich did do that wonderful Prayer for America, which was totally powerful and moves me to this day... he should have kept that up, and on the floor of the House). Hell, Kerry is STILL insisting that it was a good idea to invade Iraq. I wonder if he's going to stick to that line to the bitter end. Seems like it's bound to bring him down.

[Postman]

7. I like Dean because he's not Bush but...

I think his idea of "solving" the Iraq crisis is to send even more troops there. Sorry, I ain't goin for that one either....

[Classical_Liberal]

10. No it is to make it a UN/Nato operation and get EU

cooperation.

[EAMcClure]

14. Has Dean advocated an increase in troops?

The reason why I ask is because that would be flatly impossible without two things:

1. Internation support (a real coalition of the willing to help us out of this mess and divide the tar pie)

2. The institution of the draft.

Only the above options are solid given the lack of raw recruits. Thanks to the casualties, I seriously doubt recruiting is going to continue, espeically the Army, which is the one division of the armed forces which is truly madly stuck in Iraq.

If Dean is pushing for an increase in troop levels in order to "resolve and end the Iraq war," he is basically asking for the draft, which uh won't get him elected.

My instincts and his rhetoric tell me that he will seek withdrawal and that is dangerous. Bush, thanks to his tax cuts and this Iraq quagmire, have put his successors in a terrible situaton. When the economic bottom really drops, taxes will have to be raised. In order to end the Iraq war without more troops, a Shiite government will be installed and oil corporations will not get the oil they paid for in contributions.

I would like to hear honest solutions put on the table because my brain can't quite wrap around the Bush conundrum.

[Eloriel]

23. There's a lot of speculation there, and it serves no one very well,

least of all Dean.

He's NOT in favor of a draft.

He's NOT in favor of extending the war. However, it is true that he believes more troops should be sent -- because we are clearly undermanned and not taking proper care of the troops we've got there OR Iraq (and it's our responsibility to ensure safety and stability). He criticizes Bush and Rumsfeld for both not sending in enough troops to start with and treating Genl Shinseki so badly over the troop numbers he told Congress would be needed in the post-war period.

It's also his position that the U.S. must "rejoin the family of nations," stop this unilateralist bullying bullshit (not his words, obviously), go back to the U.N. (and possibly NATO -- can't remember for sure) and get some help.

Unfortunately, Bush is in a very poor position to be able to do that since he behaved so badly. Of course, if he weren't such a hard-headed, arrogant SOB, he would go back to the U.N. and do what's best for all concerned. France, Germany and India are willing to send troops ONLY under a U.N. mandate. That's the sticking point. Probably a lot of other nations would contribute as well -- but not under the current conditions.

Anyway, please go to Dr. Dean's website to check out his plan for Iraq. I tried to go to the website to bring back some quotes for you, but kept getting an error message. Here's the URL:

http://www.deanforamerica.com

You want "On the Issues" on the left of the page.

And welcome to DU!



Eloriel

[BeFree]

15. More troops or pull out?

That is a difficult question...

Certainly peacekeepers from the UN would be better than our soldiers. Dean, one could imagine, would have the UN in Iraq yeaterday if it were up to him.

As for our troops there now....there are too few of them. And the ones who are there have been there too long. As much as I'd like to see them come home now, the service they provide must be helpful to some of those who are suffering from our invasion. To simply pull out and leve behind the huge mess we made....I dunno that that would be a good thing.

[caledesi]

20. No, HD wants the UN and Nato to come in.

[annagull]

12. Accountability and COURAGE!!

That is what I seek. Wellstone was courageous enough to vote no to war, did he have different evidence than Gephardt or Kerry? Graham probably saw it for the farce it was, he had the courage to vote no. He was on the intelligence committee, don't you think every Dem on that committee had the same information? Could they really be duped? I'm sorry, but I think the more info on how bogus the case for war really was, the more it hurts the Dems who voted for it.

[tomp]

29. absolutely!so you know what?

do NOT expect the dems to carry through the fight against bush. they know as well as you and i do that the more bush's iraq evidence/plan is exposed the worse they all look for voting for it. this is one more opportunity for real patriotism, for really moving america forward, that the dems will proably miss.

i've said it before and i'll say it again: u.s. imperialist foreign policy is BIPARTISAN! the democratic votes for war were NOT AN ACCIDENT. they were not "fooled" by bush.

i don't know what howard dean says about the plan for iraq, but i'm gonna bet that if it's progressive, if won't get carried out.

[T Roosevelt]

16. Is there any doubt that President Dean

would not pardon any of these war criminals?

I keep hearing that this country could not stand to suffer through a trial, and that whoever becomes President will go ahead and pardon those responsible.

One word to that - bullshit! This country is in desperate need of a house-cleaning, and it should start with the entire Executive branch.

[annagull]

21. Amen! I'm ready to see these criminals pay for once

Nixon got off the hook, Reagan and Bush 1 did as well, it's time one of the Repukes actually pay for their high crimes!

[FreedomReload]

22. I doubt it

I can see maybe DK not pardoning, the rest I am almost sure would.

[tomp]

30. i'm very curious

where did you hear that the country couldn't stand a trial? i haven't heard anything about that in this case and i'm curious as to the source. i know america seems to have said this in the past on nixon, watergate, the and many issues. it is my belief that this is the crux of what is wrong with america, that it cannot stand to see the truth, and so just keeps reliving old history. so if anyone is saying that now i want to know, because it is EXACTLY, 100%, WITHOUT THE SLIGHTEST DOUBT, THE ABSOLTELY MOST WRONG IDEA POSSIBLE AND WHOEVER IS SAYING IT SHOULD STOP IMMEDIATELY.

[T Roosevelt]

35. Seen/heard it a couple times

I think once was on Mike Malloy (in the past few broadcasts). I agree that a trial is EXACTLY what this country needs, almost a cleansing, with those involved suffering the maximum penalties allowed for their crimes.

[davecullen]

26. That's why we're behind him

That's why I'm excited by him. All I want is someone to tell the truth. Is that so much to ask for?

[Alex88]

27. Well said by Mr. Dean , but the US.should liberate the Iraqi's

Well said, by Mr. Dean.

However, it's the U.S. lording over the Iraqi's and denying them self-determination that helps generate extremism there. It was the repressive U.S. puppet regime of the Shah in Iran that generated extremism over there. The Iraqi's are an able and educated people. We should cut our losses and work our way out of there militarily.

[MGKrebs]

28. Awesome statement.

It is the truth.

[RogueTrooper]

31. The Doctor Is In

Excellent statement. I hope the others start following in his wake.

[MGKrebs]

36. I take the statement completely at face value.

Someone else mentioned "statesmanship". What he said is right: Congress needs to stop with the denial and take responsibility for what they did. It would be the right thing to say regardless of the politics of the moment. If it happens to help Dean politically, that is a bonus.

So, Dean gets the word "resign" into the public consciousness, puts Congress, and everybody else, on notice that he will expect accountability, including for HIMSELF, defines the current Iraq debate as an accountability issue, and invites us all (Americans) to recognize that a mistake was made, but that in order to learn from it, we have to admit it.

Also, regarding troop levels in Iraq: we can't pull out now. We are in this mess whether we like it or not. It is not responsible to bomb the crap out of Iraq and then leave. The right thing to do is bring in the UN, who has mucho experience at this sort of thing, and the resources to do it right, and reduce our involvement. But shrub won't do that because he won't get to feed contracts to his donors and he won't get to set up a government that will answer to him.

So far, Dean is doing everything right in my book.

[MGKrebs]

37. Deleted because I accidentally duped.

#^%@* connection problem.