Posted on 11/05/2003 8:16:15 AM PST by Between the Lines
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings on Monday called the war in Iraq “a mistake from the very beginning” and said he was misled by the Bush administration before he voted last year to authorize the war.
The South Carolina Democrat told his fellow senators he would be hard-pressed to tell a grieving family why their son or daughter died in Iraq.
Those sentiments were echoed by relatives of several South Carolina soldiers killed in Iraq — including the mother of an Orangeburg County man killed Sunday.
“Now they say this is not Vietnam,” Hollings said on the Senate floor. “The heck it is not. This crowd has got historical amnesia. There is no education in the second kick of a mule. This was a bad mistake.
“Somehow, sometime, they’ve got to put the force in there and quit doing it on the cheap, or otherwise get out as fast as we can.
“This is, chapter and verse, Vietnam.”
The state’s senior senator set up his 10 minutes of remarks as a profound personal and moral decision, saying that he could not in good conscience remain silent on why he had changed his mind about the war.
He spoke a day after the deadliest attack on Americans in Iraq — 16 soldiers died Sunday after their transport helicopter was shot down. All told, at least 375 have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq — with at least 238 since President Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1.
“I really don’t understand why they’re over there,” said Harriet E. Johnson, mother of Army Specialist Darius T. Jennings, 22, who was on the helicopter that was shot down Sunday.
“They’re saying they don’t want us over there, and they will continue to kill American soldiers.
“Why don’t someone take heed and bring them (home) from over there?”
U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., a resolute supporter of Bush’s foreign policy, rebuked Hollings’ for his statement.
“That’s sad for Senator Hollings not to understand that each of our troops is a hero for participating in the war,” said Wilson, of Springdale in Lexington County.
“Everything we’re doing now is to disrupt the terrorists. If you don’t fight them overseas, they will come here.”
A response from the White House was not immediately available Monday.
Hollings argued that Iraq is not part of the war on terrorism, and the Bush administration scared the nation into thinking former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was an immediate threat to national security.
“Iraq was not part of the war on terror,” Hollings said. “It was quiet. It was not bothering anybody. They did not have al Qaeda. They did not have nuclear capabilities. They were not connected in any way to 9/11.”
He said he would not know how to address the bereaved family of a soldier killed in Iraq.
“If I went to a funeral this afternoon for a fallen soldier in Iraq, what would I say? Did they fall there for democracy? There will be no democracy... Your son gave his life for what? As their senator, I am embarrassed.”
In October 2002, Hollings voted for the resolution authorizing President Bush to attack Iraq. It passed the Senate 77-23 and the House 296-133.
Several survivors of soldiers killed in Iraq said Monday they concurred with Hollings’ remarks.
“He is so right; there is no reason for the war,” said Carolyn Hutchings of Boiling Springs. Her son, Marine Private Nolen Ryan Hutchings, 20, died on the outskirts of Nasiriyah in a friendly fire incident.
“First of all, we’re after al Qaeda, and then all of a sudden it turns to Iraq. Iraq wasn’t connected to 9/11 ... My son died for no good reason.
“My son was always proud to be a Marine. He always wore the uniform proudly, but he shouldn’t have had to wear it over there.”
Delaine Buggs of Barnwell lost her older brother, Army Sgt. George Buggs, 31, when his convoy was ambushed on March 23.
“Everyone kept saying, ‘Weapons of mass destruction, weapons of mass destruction.’ We haven’t gotten them yet.
“There are a lot of soldiers dying, but it seems like it was for nothing. Are we accomplishing anything over there?”
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