Statement by Rep. Candidate Vince Whitacre (D-WI) on Saddam Capture

[eyesroll]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WHITACRE COMMENTS ON SADDAM HUSSEIN CAPTURE

WAUKESHA, WI — Fifth-district Democratic candidate for Congress Vince Whitacre released the following statement today on the capture of Saddam Hussein by coalition forces:

““We got him.” Ambassador L. Paul Bremer announced the capture of Saddam Hussein early Sunday morning.

“This is a joyous day for the Iraqi people and for Iraq's neighbors. This dictator murdered hundreds of thousands of his own people, and attacked without provocation his neighbors Iran and Kuwait. Now that he is in custody, we can get back to the work at hand: turning Iraq over to the control of the Iraqi people, and bringing our troops home to the families who love and miss them.

“Let us not forget who is to receive the credit for the capture of this brutal tyrant:

Not George Bush or Tony Blair.
Not Paul Bremer or Ahmad Chalabi.
Not the Republicans or the Democrats.

“Saddam Hussein was captured by the brave soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division, and we must not let their courage and persistence go unrecognized.

“We got him. Now let's find Osama bin Laden, the anthrax mailer, the traitor who leaked the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame, over three million jobs, and the goodwill we used to have around the world. We found Saddam. Now it's time to find ourselves.”

Edit: Links
http://www.vince4congress.com/news
http://candidateswife.blogspot.com

(This was faxed/e-mailed to the press this morning.)

[Catherine Vincent]

1. Very good.

“We got him. Now let's find Osama bin Laden, the anthrax mailer, the traitor who leaked the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame, over three million jobs, and the goodwill we used to have around the world. We found Saddam. Now it's time to find ourselves.”

That's the more important statement.

[mdmc]

3. well met

:dem:

[dweller]

2. Link?

please
dp

[goobergunch]

5. eyesroll is Vince Whitacre's wife

I think she's a reliable source. ;)

[eyesroll]

6. Links added

This was a faxed statement to the area press today. (It hasn't run. I don't know if it will.)

[goobergunch]

4. Very nice statement (n/t)

[Prodemsouth]

7. I was with him until he said "its time to find ourselves"-- sounds so 70s

psychobabble.

[liberalcapitalist]

8. just a weebit inflamatory

This isn't an official statement, but it is what I wrote in my webjournal:

This isn't an official statement, but it is what I wrote in my webjournal...

I was awakened by a call from my brother this morning saying, "We got Saddam." For those who supported and opposed the war alike, this is great news. All freedom loving people detest Saddam Hussein, but while he was a vile dictator and gross abuser of human rights, the fact remains that while he has been found, weapons of mass destruction have not. Whether or not one supports the Iraqi War and resulting occupation should depend solely on whether or not Iraq indeed had WMDs and the capability of striking the U.S. Whether or not one supports the American troops should NEVER be in question.

The brave American soldiers in Iraq and elsewhere deserve our unconditional support. If Hussein's capture lessens their danger, then today was truly a great day. If his capture brings this war to an end any sooner, than it truly was a great day. I am hopeful that each of these things will prove to be true, but I worry that they may not. The reason is that many of the enemy combatants that threaten the safety of our men and women in Iraq are not Iraqis; they're Al-Qaeda! They're not going to be bothered one bit by Saddam's capture. I am hopeful that Saddam's capture will free the Iraqi people from the fear of his return, and thus mobilize them to expel Al-Qaeda forces from their country, but otherwise, this capture may have little impact.

Now that Saddam has been captured, we should know soon, once and for all, if his regime had the capability of putting our nation in harm's way. If not, then this war, and the American deaths that have resulted from it, have not been worth it. I believe in supporting and promoting democracy in the Arab world, but not at the expense of even one American life. Furthermore, waging war with Iraq may have left us more vulnerable to radical Islamic groups like Al-Qaeda. As Senator Bob Graham said, focusing on Iraq was "the equivalent of the Allies focusing on Mussolini's Italy, but ignoring Hitler's Germany." This statement is true if and only if there never were any WMDs.

I believe that America should risk the lives of its people only in the defense of the lives of its people. Toppling the theocratic regime of the Taliban, which provided safe haven for Osama bin-Laden in Afghanistan, was in defense of our country. Toppling the secularist regime of Saddam Hussein, while a human rights triumph, is only such a defensive measure if it can be proven that Iraq truly was an imminent threat to our security. "Liberating the Iraqi people" is great, but I don't think bringing democracy to a country unable or unwilling to liberate itself is worth one ounce of American blood.

President George W. Bush will be judged on whether or not the WMDs are found. Many Democrats and all Republicans in Congress trusted his administration when they said they were certain of their existence. If it is revealed that no such weapons ever existed, then I'm sorry, but today's success was not worth the four hundred and counting American lives lost. If the WMDs are found, and it is learned that Iraq had the capability and willingness to harm Americans, then Mr. Bush should be applauded by Democrats and Republicans alike.

[economic justice]

9. VERY good

That's the kind of statement Democrats *should* be making. VERY well written. All I know is we are NOT going to win in '04 by being apologists for Saddam Hussein. Your post was a breath of fresh air in an environment polluted by far left fantasies that pollute our politics. IMO, we need to return the Democratic party back into the hands of JFK Democrats.

[interceptor]

10. You forget...

Intelligence is not a 100% game. The President will be judged on whether there was a credible and reliable intelligence summary which clearly indicated a WMD threat from Iraq via Al Qaeda. Remember, a lot of our Democrats in the Senate sent a letter to Clinton urging military action against Saddam in 1998, based on intelligence at the time. The same people read the same intelligence reports I did and voted for the war powers resolution last year (Lieberman, Gephardt, and others still hold to their positions...we can't deny that). We can fool ourselves into thinking its one guy making the case, but the reality is a bunch of us together interpreting what comes out of a whole lot of bits of data...we call it "connecting the dots." The President does not have ESP anymore than you and I. He relies on inputs from the organization as a whole, just like anywhere else.

Where you and everyone really should be looking/wondering about is the ongoing Senate investigation into the intelligence trail leading to the war at the beginning of the year. Obviously, if we find WMD its moot. If not, that's the next place to go. Picking on "who framed Valerie Plame" is obviously not going anywhere - it should be "what exactly where the indicators President Bush made his choice from?" I can tell you this one should be an easy investigation, since there's usually a lot of memos from people like the NIO for Warning, etc. If there were foul play, then there will be an obvious discord between the data being funneled "up" and the directions coming "down."

Not really disagreeing with you, just tweaking a little bit. My $0.02.

[liberalcapitalist]

11. you are right

you are right... that's why mine wasn't an "official" statement.. I wrote it at 3:00 AM! haha :)