Posted on 03/27/2004 8:32:42 AM PST by Pikamax
W. Va. Sen. on Iraq: 'My Vote Was Wrong'
Saturday March 27, 2004 3:31 PM
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller regrets his vote to authorize a war against Iraq.
``If I had known then what I know now, I would have voted against it,'' Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said Friday. ``I have admitted that my vote was wrong.''
The Democratic-led Senate approved the war resolution 77-23 on Oct. 11, 2002, one day after the U.S. House approved a similar resolution.
``The decision got made before there was a whole bunch of intelligence,'' said Rockefeller, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. ``I think the intelligence was shaped. And I think the interpretation of the intelligence was shaped.
``We had this feeling we could be welcomed as liberators. Americans don't know history, geography, ethnicity. The administration had no idea of what they were getting into in Iraq. We are not internationalists. We border on being isolationists. We don't know anything about the Middle East.''
Rockefeller also said he is disturbed at the failure to involve the United Nations in creating a new government and finding peace in Iraq.
Many of the senator's feelings were strengthened last week during a weeklong trip with four other Democratic senators to Iraq and four other Middle Eastern nations.
In Iraq, the senators visited a team of researchers investigating the presence of weapons of mass destruction.
``They have three million pieces of paper,'' Rockefeller said. ``But it is a sham. There is nothing to point to any weapons of any kind.''
Rockefeller said the influence of terrorist groups, such as al-Qaida, is growing in Iraq. He estimated that only about 5 percent of insurgents in Iraq are recent arrivals, with the rest ``homegrown.''
Repubs need to revisit that one; good reminder just what losers the Dems are.
Hard to assess what we would be dealing with today; if we did not have two great leaders willing to give more than 'lip service' to our enemies.
Reminds me; what/when will the Repubs get serious about the Dem strategy memos that exposed their machiavellian politics?
They should all be held accountable for subverting the Democratic process of our Government.
In my dreams there is Justice for these people. . .
Sadly, they will neither know nor care about the latest in a long string of Rockefeller stupid episodes. People here vote Democrat because it's engrained in them. In my county, Dems outnumber Republicans 3.5 to 1. The state overall is 2 to 1 Dem, and they think "Jay" is just dandy, because they've never bothered to educate themselves about the fact that everything he - and his party - stands for is the exact opposite of what they believe, from abortion to gun control to national defense.
I've dealt with JDR the Fourth - believe me, he is a complete and total idiot, but it doesn't matter to my neighbors. Rockefeller and Byrd are embarrassments, but as long as they toss a little pork out way, they're heroes to the voting public.
Inquiring minds want to know :)
We weren't?
Americans don't know history, geography, ethnicity.
So, Americans are dumb, you know everything we don't know, and you know better than us?
The administration had no idea of what they were getting into in Iraq. We are not internationalists. We border on being isolationists. We don't know anything about the Middle East.''
Speak for yourself, Senator. We've been dealing with the Middle East for hundreds of years.
I've also read the informative Platt's Oilgram (Volume 79 Number 15, January 23, 2001) where it is reported: In 1973, with oil trading profits soaring after the first Arab embargo, Rich left Phibro to form his own firm, Marc Rich & Co, which soon became a major player in world oil markets. He was particularly adept at securing supplies of Nigerian and Iraqi crudes, and gained a reputation as a reliable supplier in tough times to crude-short oil majors."
Read the full article (Iooks like it was written in 2002) at: Investigating Marc Rich and his deals with Nigeria's Oil
Through an elaborate network of carrots and sticks and a willing army of Nigeria's soldiers and some civilians, controversial global dealer and billionaire Marc Rich, literally and practically, made deals and steals; yes, laughed his way to the banks from crude oil contracts, unpaid millions in oil royalties and false declarations of quantities of crude lifted and exported from Nigeria for almost 25 years. Worse, he lifted Nigeria's oil and shipped same to then embargoed apartheid regime in South Africa.
There are additional articles below the one cited above, one called "Marc Rich's Path to Fortune" and another entitled "Who's Marc Rich?" All very interesting.
The more they talk the worse they sound.
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