How about March 20 as a National Day of Self-Reflection?

Passover commemorates the migration and freedom of the Israelites from ancient Egypt. As described in the Book of Exodus, Passover marks the "birth" of the Jewish nation.

Having participated in several Passover Seder meals, I have found great power in the retelling of the Exodus story. Though it is the same story year after year, it is an annual reminder where people have come from. It is the Passover tradition that motivates my desire, in part, for the Democratic Party to have a majority in at least the House of Representatives.

We the people need a full and complete understanding as to how we find ourselves on the road to perdition by way of a pre-emptive war in Iraq. The Democrats represent the last hope of this coming to fruition.

Once we have uncovered the truth, I would like this country to declare March 20 of each year as, what I would call, the "National Day of Self-Reflection."

March 20, 2003 was the day Operation Iraqi Freedom was officially launched. That should also be the day we come together in the Passover tradition to annually retell the story so that it never happens again.

How did we allow fear to masquerade as freedom and unwavering resolve to be mistaken for courage? How was it that the systematic politicizing of Sept. 11, 2001 caused us to forget July 4, 1776?

By retelling the story, we can also come to terms with why 71 percent approved of the president's handling of Iraq, according to a USA Today/Gallup poll taken March 24-25, 2003, but the same poll conducted Oct. 6-8, 2006 reveals only 30 percent approval.

What changed? Was it that the war didn't go according to plan? They seldom do.

With Vietnam in our rearview mirror, why were we unable to foresee, in say, February 2003, the possibility of the war turning out the way it has? Why did we not demand that our elected leadership provide us with worst-case scenarios so our support for this risky endeavor could be made with our eyes wide open?

Whether we accept the calculations published in the British medical journal Lancet of 650,000 Iraqi deaths since Saddam was toppled, or the United Nations report that the Iraqi death toll has exceeded 100 per day in the first six months of 2006, our compromised morality has led to the carnage of innocent men, women and children.

Perhaps the most important reason for the Democrats to gain control and hold hearings are the moral questions that remain on the table. We have witnessed recently well-respected Republicans, such as former Secretary of State James Baker and chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee John Warner, hinting that "staying the course" may no longer be viable -- if it ever was. Where we go from here remains critically important, if for no other reason, than the resurrection of our public morality.

I believe we have a moral obligation not to abandon Iraq, but what does that mean? That is what we must now contemplate, which is why I argue that understanding the mistakes of the past are crucial to making the difficult decisions going forward.

Even without Democratic-led hearings, we already know this was not a war of last resort. It was, however, a war that has authorized torture, ignored the Constitution and argued successfully that habeas corpus is no longer completely relevant in 21st century democracy. This war has not made us safer nor has it decreased the number of terrorists that threaten us. If anything, it has had the reverse effect.

It is imperative to the preservation of our democracy that we understand how we came to this quagmire. We need to tell the story year after year. This way, we can have more than a comical look on our face when our grandchildren ask: "What the hell were you all thinking?"

Byron Williams is an Oakland pastor and syndicated columnist. E-mail him at byron@byronspeaks.com or leave a message at (510) 208-6417. Send a letter to the editor to soundoff@angnewspapers.com.