Reply #9: Can never "know" what the players were thinking. . . [View All]

[pat_k]

Whether or not a member of Congress could reasonably conclude that Iraq posed a real threat based on the bushwacked intel avaialble to them is arguable. We cannot "know" their minds. We can argue that they "should have known." Unfortunately, this is an argument that leads down an unnecessary rat hole. Picking apart the "intel" to support or refute the assertion is not an effective road to the action required to rescue our constitutional.

What we do know is their actions and public statements. We know Bush/Cheney terrorized the nation into war with threats of "mushroom clouds in 45 minutes." Whether or not the White House "knew" that the "16 words" were a fantasy, no amount of "stretching" can support the notion that Iraq had the capability to drop a nuclear bomb anywhere within the United States in 45 minutes.

But that crime is not the central crime Bush and Cheney committed against our constitutional democracy. It is their unconstitutional and Un-American claims to unitary authoritarian power to torture and spy on us w/out warrant to "protect us" that is truly devastating. Impeaching for those crimes is what Congress must do if they are to become champions of the People's government and the Constitution.