Governor Dean's Statement on the Anniversary of the Authorization of Iraq War Resolution
BURLINGTON--Democratic presidential candidate Governor Howard Dean, M.D., issued the following statement today regarding tomorrow's one year anniversary of the authoriztion of the Iraq war resolution:
"One year ago this weekend, Congress wrote President Bush a blank check for pre-emptive war in Iraq. As I made clear in last night's debate, that momentous decision was a turning point not only in this election but in the country's history.
"At that time, some Democrats spoke out, questioning the wisdom of the doctrine of pre-emptive war and the rationale for invading Iraq before exhausting other options. But too many were silent, standing by the President in the Rose Garden as he signed the war resolution, voting for it, or urging others to do so.
"I opposed the President's preemptive war because I thought the threat wasn't imminent and because I thought it would make us less safe here in America.
"The opinion polls were against me, but I knew I had to stand up for what I believed.
"Today we know the American people were badly misled over the past year. We've now learned that Saddam was not involved in the September 11th attacks, that there was no strong evidence Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction that presented an imminent threat to the United States, that Iraq did not try to purchase nuclear materials from Africa, that Saddam was nowhere near developing nuclear weapons, and that the Bush administration had no real plan for reconstruction once Saddam was gone.
"100 days from now, the Iowa caucuses will take place and the Democratic Party’s nominating process will begin. The real test of leadership is standing up for what is right, even when that stand is not popular. Last night, the Democrats in Congress who wrote the President's blank check a year ago continued to scramble to make up for that failure, hoping the people will forget their actions at the moment of truth. But the Democrats who will begin selecting our nominee 100 days from now have not forgotten -- and by their votes, I believe they will speak with a clear voice of the need for change and for a clear alternative to the failed policies of the present administration."
-- 30 --
Operation Iraqi Freedom:
By the Numbers
365 -- Days since Congress authorized a unilateral war
324 -- American Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines dead in Iraq
1,767 --American military casualties in Iraq
164 -- Days since President Bush declared the war was 'over'
184 -- American Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines dead since war was “over”
2.38 -- Tons of biological agents the Administration claimed Iraq had
6,868 -- Gallons of anthrax the Administration asserted Iraq was ready to use
317 -- Gallons of botulinum toxin the Administration reported Iraq was hiding
581 -- Gallons of aflatoxin the Administration stated Iraq possessed
45 -- Minutes the Administration claimed it would take Iraq to launch a WMD attack
Over 300 -- Alleged Iraqi weapons sites inspected to date
0 -- Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction found
100,000s -- Number of Troops needed in Iraq according to Gen. Eric Shinseki, Army Chief of Staff
"Way off the Mark" -- Rumsfeld’s and Wolfowitz’s response to Shinseki’s estimate
150,000 -- American military personnel in the Middle East supporting war
29,000 -- Army and Air National Guard forces in Iraq
50,000 -- Reservists in Iraq
30,000 -- Number of US troops the Pentagon planned to have in Iraq late 2003
“Something under $50 Billion” -- Administration's initial projected cost of war
$1.7 Billion -- What Natsios promised would be total US share of reconstruction
$50 - $100 Billion -- Estimate of Iraqi oil revenue in 2-3 years by Wolfowitz in March
$2 Billion -- Estimate of oil revenues this year by Rumsfeld in September
$79 Billion -- Cost of Iraq war before supplemental request
$87 Billion -- Request for additional funds now under consideration
$800,000 -- Estimated cost of President Bush’s USS Lincoln Speech
$221 Billion -- Projected total cost of occupying Iraq
$222 Billion -- Total annual cost of the National Cancer Institute, FBI, pollution control, foreign aid, NASA, agricultural support payments, food stamps, non-defense homeland security, health research and training, highways, financial aid to college students, and federal support for grade-school education and high-school education
2.5 -- Hours it took after 9/11 for Rumsfeld to consider attacking Iraq
102 -- Days to change the whitehouse.gov headline announcing end of “Combat Operations” to end of “Major Combat Operations.”
16 -- Pages of documents from 2001 Cheney energy task force mapping Iraqi oil fields
$200 Million -- Value of no-bid troop-housing contract awarded to Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root
$1.7 Billion -- Total current value of Halliburton "reconstruction" contracts
$2 Million -- Halliburton’s 2002 fine for fraud in Calif. military base construction
$20 Million -- Vice President Cheney’s Halliburton early-retirement package
16 --Words proven false from the President’s State of the Union Address
16 -- Questions posed by Governor Dean to the Administration that remain unanswered
A Year to Regret:
12 Months of Failed Leadership
October
October 2, 2002 Participated in a Rose Garden ceremony convened after he strikes a deal with President Bush on the language of the Iraq Resolution, to the dismay of many Democrats
October 5, 2002 President Bush warns that Saddam Hussein could strike without notice and inflict "massive and sudden horror" on America. (AP, 10/06/02)
O ctober 5, 2002 CIA letter to Congress does not support the White House's view that Iraq presents an immediate threat to America. (Knight-Ridder 10/05/02)
October 2002 Steven Hadley, Deputy National Security Advisor receives two memos from the CIA and a phone call from agency Director George Tenet raising objections to an allegation that Iraq was seeking to buy uranium ore from Africa to use in building nuclear weapons. Both memos are also sent to chief speechwriter Michael Gerson and one is sent to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. (CNN.com, 7/23/03)
October 7, 2002 President Bush states “we know that the regime has produced thousands of tons of chemical agents, including mustard gas, sarin nerve gas, VX nerve gas.” At CIA Director Tenet’s insistence, statements suggesting that Iraq tried to buy uranium in Africa are been pulled from the speech. (www.whitehouse.gov)
October 11, 2002 The House and Senate vote to give President Bush blank check authority to use military force against Iraq.
November
November 2, 2002 President Bush claims that Saddam Hussein has had “contacts with terrorists networks like al-Qaida." (AP, 11/02/02)
November 6, 2002 Election Day -- Culmination of aggressive and successful campaigning by President Bush against Democrats -- even those who had supported his Iraq Resolution.
November 8, 2002 The UN Security Council adopts Resolution 1441.
December
December 11, 2002 US withholds evidence from UN weapons inspectors pertaining to Iraq’s efforts to obtain uranium from Africa. (Financial Times, 07/09/03)
December 19, 2002 The U.S. declares Iraq in “material breach” of Resolution 1441. Bush Administration publicly identifies Niger as country in Africa from whom Iraq purportedly attempted to obtain uranium. (State.gov/New Yorker, 3/31/03)
January
January 27, 2003 The White House issues an eight-page "white paper" asserting that United Nations officials have concluded that Iraq has not adequately accounted for more than 2.38 tons of biological agents it formerly possessed –enough to to produce 6,868 gallons of anthrax, or three times as much as Iraq has admitted to possessing; 317 gallons of botulinum toxin; and 581 gallons of aflatoxin, a carcinogen. (Seattle Times, 1/24/03)
January 28, 2003 The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, says there is no evidence Iraq is reviving its nuclear weapon program. (Seattle Times 1/24/03)
January 28, 2003 In his State of the Union address, President Bush states that “The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.” (AP, 1/29/03)
February
February 5, 2003 Colin Powell presents evidence to the UN stating “our conservative estimate is that Iraq today has a stockpile of between 100 and 500 tons of chemical weapons agent. That is enough agent to fill 16,000 battlefield rockets.” (NYT, 2/06/03)
February 5, 2003 Governor Howard Dean says that Secretary Powell’s speech failed to make the case that Iraq posed for “an imminent threat warranting unilateral military action by the United States against Iraq." (AP, 2/06/03)
February 5, 2003 Kerry says evidence presented by Secretary Powell is “real and compelling.” (NYT, 2/10/03)
February 10-11, 2003 France, Germany, and Russia align in opposition to the Bush Administration’s United Nations resolution calling for a military confrontation in Iraq and, instead, call for more intense weapons inspections. (NYT, 2/10/03)
February 11, 2003 A tape is released with Osama bin Laden’s voice on it, encouraging Iraqis to fight the U.S. (UPI, 2/11/03)
March
March 8, 2003 U.N. and independent experts determine that Niger uranium evidence is forged and that Iraq did not plan to use imported aluminum tubes for enriching uranium and generating nuclear weapons. (Washington Post, 3/08/03)
March 16, 2003 Vice President Cheney says that “we believe has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.” (Washington Post, 3/18/03)
March 16, 2003 President Bush claims that “intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised.” (Washington Post, 3/18/03)
March 18, 2003 UN weapons inspectors found that the missiles Iraq possessed could travel less than 200 miles -- posing no threat to our allies in the region. (Washington Post, 3/18/03)
March 20, 2003 The US launches attack on Iraq after the expiration of President Bush’s deadline for President Saddam Hussein and his sons to leave Iraq.
March 30, 2003 Referring to the WMDs, Secretary Rumsfeld states that “we know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat." (DoD Transcript, 3/30/03)
April
April 3, 2003 Senator John Kerry claims that he voted to give the President the “threat of force.” (Manchester Union Leader, 4/03/03)
April 11, 2003 Halliburton wins no-bid Iraq reconstruction contract worth up to $7 billion. (Cincinnati Enquirer, 4/16/03)
May
May 1, 2003 After landing on the USS Lincoln, President Bush announces the end of major combat operations in Iraq. (whitehouse.gov)
May 14, 2003 Defense Secretary Rumsfeld claims that he knows of “no one in the Bush Administration who said that Iraq had nuclear weapons.” (Washington Post, 5/20/03)
May 29, 2003 President Bush asserts that “we found the weapons of mass destruction.” (Washington Post, 5/31/03)
June
June 8, 2003 Condoleeza Rice claims that, at the time of the State of the Union, “no one in our circles knew that there were doubts and suspicions that might be a forgery.” (NBC, 6/08/03)
June 26, 2003 The State Department's intelligence division disputes the CIA’s conclusion that mysterious trailers found in Iraq were for making biological weapons. (NYT, 6/26/03)
June 27, 2003 House Republicans reject two attempts by Democratic lawmakers for additional inquiries into the handling of intelligence on Iraq's weapons programs. (Reuters, 6/27/03)
July
July 3, 2003 Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the commander of allied forces in Iraq admits that “we’re still at war.” The concession comes on a day in which 10 American soldiers were wounded in three separate attacks. (Reuters, 7/03/03)
July 6, 2003 Ambassador Joseph Wilson writes NYT Op-Ed describing the events surrounding his investigation of the Niger uranium evidence. (NYT, 7/06/03)
July 7, 2003 The White House acknowledged for the first time today that President Bush was relying on incomplete and perhaps inaccurate information from American intelligence agencies when he declared, in his State of the Union speech, that Saddam Hussein had tried to purchase uranium from Africa. (NYT, 7/07/03)
July 10, 2003 Senator John Kerry says he believes that he voted absolutely correctly. (FDCH Transcript, 7/10/03)
July 10, 2003 Gen. Tommy R. Franks said today that violence and uncertainty in Iraq made it unlikely that troop levels would be reduced "for the foreseeable future," and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld nearly doubled the estimated military costs there to $3.9 billion a month. (AP, 7/10/03)
July 11, 2003 The US Senate votes unanimously to urge President George W. Bush to consider asking NATO and the United Nations for help in rebuilding Iraq.
July 11, 2003 CIA Director George Tenet says that he is responsible for President Bush’s false allegation in his State of the Union address that Baghdad was trying to buy uranium in Africa. (MSNBC.com, 7/11/03)
July 14, 2003 Robert Novak reports that Senior White House officials have disclosed the name of Ambassador Wilson’s wife and identified her as a CIA operative, destroying her career and endangering her life and the life of those with whom she worked.
July 15, 2003 President Bush claims that the CIA's doubts about the charge -- that Iraq sought to buy "yellowcake" uranium ore in Africa -- were "subsequent" to the Jan. 28 State of the Union speech in which Bush made the allegation… (Washington Post, 7/18/03)
July 16, 2003 An explosion killed a U.S. soldier in Iraq, bringing the total combat deaths to 147, equaling the total in the 1991 Gulf War. (Reuters, 7/16/03)
July 17, 2003 The Senate votes down a Democratic proposal to create an independent bipartisan commission to investigate the administration's use of secret intelligence to justify war with Iraq. (Knight Ridder, 7/17/03)
July 17, 2003 General Abizaid acknowledges that mid-level officials of Saddam's government “are conducting what I would describe as a classical guerrilla-type campaign against us. It's low-intensity conflict in our doctrinal terms, but it's war however you describe it.” (DoD Transcript)
July 18, 2003 Governor Dean poses 16 questions to President Bush, which remain unanswered. (AP, 7/18/03)
July 23, 2003 Deputy National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley says he is at fault for allowing the uranium claim to remain in the State of the Union address. “I failed in that responsibility,” he said. (AP, 7/24/03)
July 24, 2003 Gen. Tommy Franks predicts Saddam Hussein will be found within 60 days. (Newsday, 7/24/03)
August
August 7, 2003 At least 11 people die and more than 65 are injured when a car bomb exploded outside the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad. (NY Times, 10/8/03)
August 20, 2003 Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN special representative in Iraq and at least 17 others die and more than a 100 are injured as bomb explosion rips through the organization's headquarters in Baghdad. (NY Times, 8/20/03)
August 29, 2003 A car bombing at the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf kills more than 95 and leaves more than 140 wounded in the single deadliest attack under the U.S.-led occupation. (NY Times, 8/30/03)
September
September 8, 2003 President Bush says that he will ask Congress for $87 billion in emergency spending for military operations and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that Iraq had now become "the central front" in the campaign against terrorism. (NY Times 9/08/03)
September 23, 2003 President Bush addresses the UN and says that “the regime of Saddam Hussein cultivated ties to terror while it built weapons of mass destruction.” (www.whitehouse.gov)
September 30, 2003 Attorney General Ashcroft announces that the Justice Department has opened a full investigation into whether senior administration officials illegally disclosed the identity of Ambassador Joseph Wilson’s wife, a CIA operative (NY Times, 10/1/03)
October
October 2003 US Weapons Inspector Kay files interim report and testifies before Congress. At best, Kay's report showed that Hussein had a continued interest in developing weapons, perhaps once international sanctions were finally lifted -- a far cry from the imminent threat claimed by President Bush. (New York Times, 10/4/03)
October 8, 2003 The White House launches a new public relations campaign to beat back critics of its Iraq policy, by focusing on local media to get out its message. (CNN.com, 10/9/03)
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