Why the Democratic Party is backing Bush’s war drive vs. Iraq (Remember 2002?)

World Socialist Web Site ^ | 11 October 2002 | Patrick Martin

[Uncle Miltie]

The Democratic Party is moving to provide a comfortable margin of votes to pass resolutions in the House of Representatives and the Senate authorizing an imminent US invasion of Iraq. The House voted Thursday to give Bush the power to wage war, a week after an agreement between Bush and House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt on the language of the resolution.

A series of top Senate Democrats have endorsed the resolution, including Majority Whip Harry Reid, Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, and John Kerry of Massachusetts, a prospective presidential candidate and one-time leader of veterans’ protests against the Vietnam War. It is expected that less than a quarter of the Senate will vote against a resolution to authorize Bush to launch a unilateral war of aggression.....

[Uncle Miltie]

Remember 2002, when the Democrats DEMANDED an opportunity to vote "YES" for the Iraq War? I do.

Has everyone conveniently flushed those historic facts down the Orwellian Memory Hole?

In retrospect, many people have come to regret that decision. Fair enough. But please recall that at the time, war against Iraq was one of few issues that united most Democrats and Republicans.

[Carry_Okie]

Remember 2002, when the Democrats DEMANDED an opportunity to vote "YES" for the Iraq War?

Call it political "rope-a-dope."

[Uncle Miltie]

21 of 50 Democratic senators voted against the resolution: Sens. Akaka (D-HI), Bingaman (D-NM), Boxer (D-CA), Byrd (D-WV), Conrad (D-ND), Corzine (D-NJ), Dayton (D-MN), Durbin (D-IL), Feingold (D-WI), Graham (D-FL), Inouye (D-HI), Kennedy (D-MA), Leahy (D-VT), Levin (D-MI), Mikulski (D-MD), Murray (D-WA), Reed (D-RI), Sarbanes (D-MD), Stabenow (D-MI), Wellstone (D-MN), and Wyden (D-OR).

1 (2%) of 49 Republican senators voted against the resolution: Sen. Chafee (R-RI).

The only Independent senator voted against the resolution: Sen. Jeffords (I-VT)

[Uncle Miltie]

Senate Democrats voted in favor of the Iraq War: 29 Yea, 21 Nay.

[lentulusgracchus]

The original article is quite the Marxist screed, contains numerous gems of Marxist puffery, and several interesting claims, such as that "public sentiment" was heavily against the commencement of the Iraq War, as measured by unspecified polls.

And of course Bush stole the election of 2000 in any "fair" recount, says the Communist screedist. The media friends of Al Gore recounted the disputed Dade and Broward County votes under six different sets of rules. Bush won under five scenarios, Gore under only one.

And nobody was talking about the overseas military absentee ballots that Slick ordered deepsixed off the fantail of an aircraft carrier returning to the States, or the California absentee ballots, stacks and stacks of sacks and sacks of them, thousands of them, that were never counted, so the Democrats could maintain their brag that Gore had won the nationwide popular vote by 500,000 votes.