Sen. John Breaux says his vote for war was a mistake

[Armstead]

In an interview on Fox, former Sen. John Breaux the classic conservative/centrist Democrat just said on Faux News that he would have not voted for the Iraq War if he had known then that Sadaam did not have any WMDs.

He said he had believed the administration when it said Sadaam had WMD's and therefore voted for the Iraq War resolution, and that to him was the only justification for it. However, he said if he could do it again he would have voted against it.

Easy for him to say now, of course, but it is refreshing to at least hear a centrist Democrat come out and admit the plain truth -- that this war was based on a false premise .

[barbaraann]

1. He needs to tell Cindy that in person.

n/t

[IndyOp]

20. Excellent thought - I hereby second the motion that all future

apologies from the liars and cowards and sheep who allowed this unprovoked attack to occur shall be addressed to Cindy Sheehan.

:kick:

[GreenPartyVoter]

23. Thirded

[barbaraann]

25. On second thought, he needs to apologize to every family member who

has lost a loved one, not just Cindy. In person.

[funkybutt]

2. Wow..that's something

wish there were a link there though

[wtbymark]

3. so then make up for it somehow Sen. Dickhead

too little too late on that one - these people make me puke!

[Armstead]

8. Much as i disagree with him....

...he ought to be at least supported for telling the truth now, ibnstead of staying in the "obscurist" camp of democrats who continue to evade that central truth.

[kentuck]

4. A lot of his votes were mistakes...

I'm glad he's no longer in the Senate...sorry.

[pitohui]

11. he was a lot better than the alternative

i'm sorry to see him go

his replacement is GOP whoremonger & hypocrite david vitter

you push out centrists at yr peril of getting far, far, far worse

[kentuck]

16. At least you can depend on the GOP to vote a certain way...

You could not depend on Breaux. I'm glad he's gone.

[rockymountaindem]

39. Yeah, but the Republicans couldn't count on Breaux either.

They *can* count on Vitter.

[Hippo_Tron]

40. So we should knock out all the centrist and give the GOP 75 Senators?

I consider myself pretty liberal and I can tell you that I'd much rather have John Breaux as my Senator than David Vitter.

[Craig3410]

47. Still, I look at it this way...

The centrist Democrat might vote in a direction we agree with about 50-55% of the time.

The far-right GOPer (and Zell Miller)? Almost never.

I see it as the lesser of the two evils.

[burythehatchet]

5. US Senator discovers Bush was lying, film at 11

Fuck you, John. Burythehatchet knew the truth sitting on his ass in his living room.

[hadrons]

6. total BS ....

he knew what the deal was and like the other war-hawks thought an easy buck could be made and now that the cart's wheels are falling off he's just looking to cover his ass when the histories of this disatar come out

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. Hopefully a few of the other collaborators will do the same.

Lieberman, Kerry, Hillary, Biden, etc. Oh, but wait, they still think that we just need more troops to accomplish "the mission".

[charlie]

22. It's pitiful

watching the presidential hopefuls burnishing their two-fisted hawk credentials at the moment public disaffection for the war tips into the majority. I mean, c'mon guys, stick your fucking fingers into the air. It's what you've been doing with every other issue...

[SOS]

44. Apparently none

of the pro-war dems got around to reading Powell's assesment of Hussein from February 2001:

"He has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbors."

[Al-CIAda]

9. *note to Kerry. nt

[William769]

10. He must be coming up for reelection.

[pitohui]

12. no he is retired

breaux is retired & perhaps now freer to speak his mind altho he has not tried to butt in & run things from the backseat

[Armstead]

13. He's out of politics

he retired from Senate.

[William769]

19. Sorry my mistake.

Well thats my one mistake for the day. Damn I have a long way to go till tomorrow.

[Al-CIAda]

17. Actually he is retiring. No doubt to a lobbing job. nt

[maxsolomon]

14. the UN inspectors couldn't find them

and you believed BUSH?

i thought to be a senator, you at least had to not be a SUCKER.

[Walt Starr]

15. All opposed to the war should now forgive Breaux for his pro-war vote

Seriously, this works to our long term strategic advantage.

Forgive him and welcome him into the fold.

[funkybutt]

24. Exactly...here here

at least the man can admit he was wrong, which is more than i can say for some people

[Armstead]

26. I agree

if people want the Democratic Establishment to come around, we ought to support those who do come around instead of insulting them for it.

To quote Bill Murray-- "Baby steps"

[senseandsensibility]

18. OMG!

What next? Will Kerry admit he was wrong, too! After all, he's a "liberal" according to the "media" and Breaux's practically a repug. No, I guess that's too "out there" for a liberal.

[Burried News]

21. One more step Senator - we were the victim of a fraud by

TRAITORS. Support the Special Prosecutor.
And John - call for the release of the Abu Ghraib photos and Phase 2 of the Senate Intel Committee Report.

[understandinglife]

27. Well, he's shown more courage than many other representatives of ...

... the people. I congratulate him for saying it, no matter how long it took and hope others join with him, real soon now.

Nominated. Thank you for posting.


Peace.

[sepia_steel]

28. I must give the guy credit

for openly admitting this on Fox News.

[Armstead]

29. True

Would be a lot easier if he'd gone witrh the flow and said nothing

[Jack Rabbit]

30. Let's hope we get some more of this

As far as I am concerned, members of the regime knew they were making a false case for war. Public pronouncements about the threat that Saddam posed were made by regime officials who knew better for the purpose of garnering public support in America and putting pressure on Congress to authorize what turned out to be an unnecessary war of aggression.

I submit that these public pronouncements are war crimes, regardless of whether or not they were made under oath. There is no issue of free speech here. This is a classic case of creating a clear and present danger by what is analogous to falsely shouting Fire! in a crowded theater.

I don't feel too much sympathy for Senator Breaux and the others who voted for the IWR when they claim now that they were swindled by snake oil salesmen. There were good reasons out in public at that time to challenge the regime's case for war and the veracity of those making the case, as those of us who marched against the planned attack knew. Nevertheless, there should be many more mea culpas from people Breaux forthcoming.

[tgnyc]

31. Has ANY other Senator made that comment before?

Will any other say it again? Is there a reason Kerry could not have said this?

[etherealtruth]

32. I welcome this ...

The more vocalizing opposition to this war the better ... The anti-war movement NEEDS more "conservative" voices to get the attention of those who vote (and think) conservative ... Ted Kennedy's opposition will not impact these folks; John Breaux's opposition mAY get their attention!

I want Bush's immoral wars stopped, I'll accept anyones help/support in order to STOP this madness!

[Armstead]

33. Good point, but to clarify...

He was not joining the anti-war movement. he stated it simply, and he didn't say we should get out now or anything.

But the fact that he admitted that his vote was mistake is a step forward, and he ought to be supported for that.

[etherealtruth]

37. I understood ...

... but, I have no doubt that this (and more like it)will sow seeds of doubt in some traditional conservatives -----even if it's just one, that's one more than before.

[The Backlash Cometh]

34. Good man. I know this is very difficult to admit, but I admire him for

saying it.

[Ganja Ninja]

35. You'd think a Senator would have had more brains than ...

to believe Bush.
The real problem with Breaux is the same problem with Biden and Lieberman and about 20 other Democrats. They vote with the GOP too often. They keep reaching out but nobody reaches back. While the right demonizes the liberals that vote them in to office they turn around and betray them.

Thanks for the apology Senator. Now that you know you've been lied to by Bush we'll expect you to remember who lied to you and stop collaborating with their criminal cabal.

[Pithy Cherub]

36. Good for Breaux! As part of his penance

he should get the other current and former Aye Voting Dem Senators to state the same. There are a few presidential types that would be greatly benefited from the cleansing experience. Most important of all, would be to take some measure of responsibility for ALL of the death and destruction that has been taken after casting that horrible vote.

That IWR Vote is a most horrendous burden that each and everyone who voted for this travesty will take to their graves. A special place will be reserved in Hell for those who compounded the mistakes with lies, fraud and incompetence.

Again, great to see Senator Breaux has come to a sense of enlightenment regarding Iraq. It cost so very much for all Americans.

[watrwefitinfor]

38. The first senator to say he was wrong about Vietnam

The first senator to say he was wrong about Vietnam started a landslide. Wasn't it Mitchell? Soon then the whole Senate was debating the war and LBJ was being advised to step aside.

They are to be commended now as they acknowledge their errors.
(See Walt and others upthread - I totally agree.)

Wat

[geek tragedy]

41. Why didn't Kerry say this last year??????????

"I would have voted differently had I known that Bush is a lying piece of shit."

Of course, Biden and HRC would never have the guts to tell the truth. Because then Republicans would call them wimps.

Christ.

[JDPriestly]

42. No Confirming Google result when I Google Breaux and Iraq

Could you please post a link or something to corroborate this. Thanks.

[Armstead]

43. It was on Fox News

I saw it during one of their talking heads segments.

I don't know if they have transcripts of their daily news segments, but it was during Davis Asman's show in the noon hour.

(I feel a little sheepish about watching Fox, but I keep the TV on in the background while I work, and sometimes subject myself to Fox to see what's being said there.)

[gasperc]

45. ok this is a breakthrough

I finally stopped purusing the headlines and this one caught my eye, I hope this is the start of something

[Armstead]

46. kick

for those who didn't see it earlier.

[Jack Rabbit]

48. Bump

:bounce: