Congress has earned its share of the blame for war mistakes

[struggle4progress]

By JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY

Knight Ridder Newspapers



WASHINGTON - Years from now when the historians begin analyzing the deadly mistakes in Iraq and Afghanistan they will find that the one institution charged with standing guard between the civilian suits and the American troops in uniform that they command and send into harm's way utterly abdicated that vital responsibility.


The mistakes of omission and commission that abound in the record of two military operations - one necessary, the other not - were made by a president, a vice president and a secretary of defense and his civilian aides. But they would never have been allowed to stand uncorrected and swept under a convenient rock without the complicity of Congress, controlled by the same party that controlled the White House.


So when the time comes to point a finger don't forget those who people the marble halls of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives whose first duty seemed to be to protect the Republican Party and their president.


When they should have roared with anger they instead whimpered and whined and rolled over like puppies to have their bellies scratched. <snip>

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/12405697.htm

[MichiganVote]

1. Congress is completely out to lunch

Full of multimillionaire republicans who haven't a clue about average americans.

"We don't care" is their slogan

[mike_c]

2. damned straight-- every one of the war party pigs who voted...

...for the IWR is complicit in the war of aggression against Iraq. They betrayed their constitutional responsibility and they betrayed the American people. Some of them did it because they were good germans standing behind their neocon fuhrer, some for perceived political gain, and others because they simply lacked the moral courage to say "no" to evil. But they were all reprehensibly wrong.

[bemildred]

3. Congress has the power. They are far more culpable that Bush.

Bush is stupid, but they let him run with it.
(Not all of them, true.)

[classysassy]

4. Not all

Barbara Lee and------?

[cyr330]

5. The Dems weren't "absent"

The Dems are just as guilty as the Repukes. A majority of the Democrats voted for the war, and that makes them equally culpable, and that includes John Kerry, John Edwards, Diane Feinstein, etc. They should be ashamed.

[Raster]

6. The last four paragraphs...

<snip>

The Democrats are happy to criticize, but like their last presidential nominee, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who offered no better alternative to staying the course in Iraq, they are hamstrung by the lack of an alternative. Absent that, they are dead in the water.

Should a larger number of members of both parties suddenly find some courage and a few convictions, might we suggest that they start getting tough with the White House and the Pentagon, or else start polishing their resumes?

We might even suggest the creation of a Wartime Profiteering Commission like the one established during World War II. Chairmanship was handed to a little-known senator from Missouri named Harry S Truman. He turned out to be a fireball when it came to getting the snouts out of the public trough. If you stole from the government, and cheated America's soldiers of the best equipment, arms and ammunition they deserved, Truman put you out of business or in prison, or both. A Truman Commission is needed right now.

A Congress with a great deal more backbone is even more desperately needed.
____________________

At least half of Congress deserves to rot in a prison cell for putting their loyalty to their party above their loyalty to the nation. The other half of Congress should be horsewhipped for having the fortitude of a garden slug. The citizens of this country deserve better in the halls of government. Much better.