Posted on 11/10/2005 7:04:42 AM PST by conservativecorner
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) took to the Senate floor Monday to dispel allegations made by Senate Democrats and film maker Michael Moore that the White House "manufactured and manipulated evidence in order to sell the war in Iraq."
In the process, Cornyn exposed inconsistent and suddenly inconvenient statements by Democrats regarding the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the necessity of removing Saddam from power.
"Do the critics need to be reminded," Cornyn asked his colleagues, "that it was a few years ago when Democrats joined Republicans in a bipartisan acknowledgement that Saddam Hussein posed a threat to the world?"
He cited the Web site of Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), architect of last week's political stunt to hold a closed session of the Senate to discuss alleged manipulation of intelligence.
"What is my position on Iraq?" Reid asks on his own Web site.
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"Saddam Hussein is an evil dictator," he answers, "who presents a serious threat to international peace and security. Under Saddam's rule, Iraq has engaged in far-reaching human rights abuses, been a state sponsor of terrorism, and has long sought to obtain and develop weapons of mass destruction."
Cornyn noted the statement was still up on Reid's Web site as of Monday, November 7.
Cornyn agrees with Reid's statement, but laments that Reid has changed his tune.
"Today," Cornyn pointed out, "we are told by the same Democratic leader that somehow this administration was responsible for manipulating intelligence to authorize the war in Iraq when, in fact, he took the same position at the time that force was used."
Cornyn also cited President Clinton.
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"The hard fact," Clinton warned in 1998, "is that so long as Saddam remains in power, he threatens the well-being of his people, the peace of the region, the security of the world. The best way to end that threat once and for all is with the new Iraqi government, a government ready to live at peace with its neighbors, a government that respects the rights of its people."
If Saddam defies the world and we fail to respond," Clinton continued, "we will face a far greater threat in the future. Saddam will strike again at his neighbors; he will make war against his own people. And mark my words, he will develop weapons of mass destruction. He will deploy them, and he will use them."
Cornyn defends those statements.
"No one," Cornyn said, "attempted to manipulate intelligence leading up to the war in Iraq – not President Clinton, not Members of the Senate, not his administration, all of whom, based upon the same intelligence, concluded that Saddam represented an imminent threat to the national security of the United States. Instead, we found that while some of our intelligence was wrong on Hussein, it was obvious, and is obvious today, that he was a threat to the civilized world."
"Giving Saddam Hussein the benefit of the doubt would have been a crazy and irresponsible thing to do. Of course, the 78 Senators who voted for the use of force against Saddam in October 2002 weren't buying that Saddam was some harmless individual then. So why now?"
Perhaps Cornyn answered his own question earlier in his speech, when he alleged, "The latest accusation ... is nothing more than an effort to use the war in Iraq for political gain."
Sen. Reid's office has yet to respond to Newsmax inquiries regarding this article.
Yeah, I'm still trying to figure out where Cornyn was going with that one... ;-)
But then I think they should have had the airline execs there yesterday instead of oil industry leaders. Surely, it is some dumb laws and government rules and regulations that is making it hard for them to turn a profit, and they should find out what that is and correct it before they all fail.
Hope so, but not nearly enough of them have. Everyone needs to let their disgust for their Senator's silence be known. Then maybe a few more will show some backbone.
Please, please, let the Dems run on that platform. We could use a filibuster-proof Senate.
well it's about friggin' time!
we've been listening to this ranting from the 'Rats now for months and it seems that but for conservative talk show hosts and a few columnists that FReepers are the only ones who remember the facts regarding the entry into the war in Iraq & Afghanistan!
Somebody WAKE UP GWB & the GOP!
A Republican with guts, becoming rarer every day!!!!!!!
Obviously,you're not talking about Senator Carl Levin, who sits on both the Armed Forces and Intelligence Committees!
Weekly Standard ^ | Nov. 8, 2005 | Steven Hayes
DOES SENATOR CARL LEVIN believe that Saddam Hussein had nukes?
Levin, the second ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, is leading the charge against the White House for manipulating intelligence on Iraq and its weapons of mass destruction and connections to al Qaeda. He has been dogged and ruthless, focusing his criticism on two areas of the Bush administration's case for war in Iraq: the connection between Iraq and al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons program. Levin claims that the Bush administration manipulated intelligence in both areas to frighten the American public into supporting a war of choice.
Which is why Levin's latest claim is so startling. On Monday, Levin appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews on MSNBC and made the following declaration:
"There was plenty of evidence that Saddam had nuclear weapons, by the way. That is not in dispute. There is plenty of evidence of that."
Really? I'd like to see it. (The transcript is here and the video can be viewed on the Hardball main page, here.
(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...
As a life-long Repiblican, I share your skepticism of these current Republicans.
It pissed me off to hear Grassley tell the oil execs they should donate 10% of their profits. I wish one of the execs would have brought up the fact that the federal and state govt make more per gallon of gasoline that the oil companies do...
Now I read these Republicans have stripped out the provisions that allow drilling in ANWR and the Atlantic & Pacific coastal areas...
They are truly ball-less.
Unfortunately, at this pace, they WILL NOT win elections in '06.
The Dems are not an alternative, but too many of us will stay home in disgust.
well those of us who can actually read LOL...know that 1.7 Metric TONS of Uranium was found in Iraq in 2003. But then a ton here a ton there...who's counting. LOL
and as far as I'm concerned, the day we found Saddam Hussein was the day we found the WMD.
Happy Birthday, Marines!
Semper Fi,
Kelly
Senator from Texas, John Cornyn, for PRESIDENT:
http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/senators/one_item_and_teasers/cornyn.htm
Please read about him here.
I had quite a conversation the other day with a friend of mine that works in D.C. The jist of the conversation is this:
The Republicans are going to be blasting the RATS with one thing after another, they are going to demand hearings on this item, and then on another item, at the same time...they are going to drive the RATS back in the holes where they belong so this person stated...
My reply was this: "Great, but how many pubbies have the gonads to do all this?" And the reply was: "All of them".
My suggestion: We will see, we will see....
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