Iraq: To Move Forward, We Must Look Back

Six years ago the United States attacked, invaded and consequently occupied Iraq at the great expense of the blood and treasure of the people of the United States and Iraq. The terms and dates of a total U.S. pullout have been so conditional and so qualified, that no one can say for sure when the occupation will end.

At such a grim anniversary, it is timely to recount the reasons we went to war. The Bush administration, operating in a climate of fear and the collective anger generated by 9/11, created a false cause for war against Iraq and then sold it to the Congress and the American people. They told us Iraq helped plan 9/11. They told us that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. They told us terrorists would attack us unless we attacked first. They promised the war would be short and cheap; that we would be greeted as liberators. None of these assertions were true. The architects of the war inside the Bush administration should be investigated and prosecuted by the Justice Department for deliberately misrepresenting a cause for war against Iraq.

Not everyone believed the lies. I led the opposition in Congress against the war. In the autumn of 2002, I circulated a detailed analysis of the Administration's war resolution. Nearly two thirds of the Democratic caucus voted against the war, despite the fact that the then leader of the Democratic Party stood next to President Bush at the White House and announced his support. Within a few months, protests against the war swept across the nation and around the world. Notwithstanding the lack of a legal, factual basis for war, notwithstanding massive public protest, the Administration commenced with its "shock and awe" display of violence against the people of Iraq. Lost in the pyrotechnics and the smoke was the truth.

The monetary cost of the Iraq war is still being calculated. It may reach $3 trillion. There are other costs: More than 4,200 Americans have been killed, another 30,000 wounded.

The people of Iraq have suffered grievously. It has been estimated that at least one million innocent Iraqis have lost their lives. What an extraordinary tragedy that those deaths as a result of the military assault and occupation on Iraq.

This war has ripped apart our nation. Only the balm of truth will heal it. That is why those who took us into this war based upon lies, as well as those who profited unjustly from the war, must be held accountable under national law. It should not be up to another nation to call for a legal accounting.

The healing cannot be complete until America ends the occupation, closes the military bases and brings the troops home, while setting in place an international peace-keeping and security force which stabilizes Iraq. We must also take steps to repair the damage done to the Iraqi people, to their homes, their families, their way of life. We must provide further financial, health and emotional support for our soldiers who in good faith shouldered their military duties.

Upon this anniversary, it is also appropriate to question the use of war as an instrument of national policy. Our nation has a right and a duty to defend ourselves. Yet we now know definitively that the war in Iraq was not necessary for our national security, and in fact was contrary to our national security interests.

It is time for America to consider a broader range of responses to security challenges in the future, so that we can be properly respectful of the readiness of our troops to sacrifice. I have proposed a Cabinet-level, Department of Peace, which will offer a President a range of practical alternatives to military action. The Department of Peace will offer a broad-based approach to peaceful, non-violent conflict resolution at both the domestic and international levels. Creating and keeping peace is an extension of the science of human relations. It requires vision and patience, vigilance and tough-mindedness. Perhaps one day, people will remember the Iraq war not only as just one of America's longest wars, but as one of our last.

Congressman Kucinich, a former Democratic Presidential candidate, led opposition to the Iraq war in the House of Representatives and has been the most consistent and vocal opponent to the Iraq war. His 2002 analysis is available HERE.

Comments

[LizM]

Rep Kucinich,

In my view, you mistakenly imply that those who voted for this authorization resolution did so because they believed the lies being peddled by the Bush administration.

Granted, some members of Congress may consider themselves misled but those same members, I would suggest, probably had no idea what this resolution was all about in the first place. It had nothing to do, as you well know, with the lies the Bush administration was spouting.

As for a department of peace, don't you think it would be more worth your while to ensure that the State Department is properly funded, staffed and resourced?

[NoFactsJustTruth]

While many of us agreed with you then as now, Congressman Kucinich, and called the invasion / occupation of Iraq itself a War Crime from the outset, the One Million estimated dead (and how many displaced?) is probably far closer to TRUTH than any numbers being volunteered by 'official (interest conflicted) sources', and the unaddressed gorilla of shame in the room is the yet zero accountability that USA leaders have possibly now committed a type of 'Holocaust' in Iraq.

Creating a new perpetual enemy to keep the voters afraid with, and finding even a 'Tonkin' toehold justification for permanent bases was motivation enough for the neoCONS. All those natural resources that friendlies would again control, of course, was just a bonus...

[olephart]

The election of Barack Obama did nothing to legitimize the War in Iraq. Likewise, at no point in the German invasion and occupation of Poland did it become a legitimate action. A continuation of the prior Administration’s policies is tantamount to accepting them and blessing them. This would make Obama a fellow traveler in the War crimes perpetrated by Bush et. al.

This region has been at war with itself for at least 5,000 years and we should not assume that it is our duty to change the wishes and mindset of those who are involved. They have always settled these matters themselves whether or not we approve of the methods.

It is only incumbent upon us to remove our presence from their affairs. That we will suffer some consequences for our illegal behavior is inescapable. Prolonging our crime will not diminish our crime and continuing our crime will not lead to a point in the future where we will be absolved. The only course that will diminish our culpability is a quick and orderly withdrawal followed by reparations and an admission of guilt. The only way to absolve our crime is to hand over the transgressors so they might be given an opportunity to state their reasons and accept their judgments.

[AngieMom57]

"That is why those who took us into this war based upon lies, as well as those who profited unjustly from the war, must be held accountable under national law."

I honestly don't know how Bush, Cheney, Rove, and all the rest of these smug, greedy out of touch people sleep at night; they must be delusional, dysfunctional and time spent in jail might just wake them up to many horrific things they have done against humanity.

[rick390]

I am constantly in awe of this man. This is indeed the man who should have been President. Lacking that, why isn't he on Obama's team in some significant role. Why aren't other politicians supporting his views. He is unassailably right on Bush and the Iraq war. He is also the only one with the guts to say what needs to be said without worrying about his career. He is someone who acts as does simply because that is what he believes in.

[AngieMom57]

Well said! I agree!

[joebhed]

Well, somebody in Congress must introduce legislation to not only crate the Department of Peace, but even more important, to end this reign of financial terrror brought about by the federal reserve bankers.
Kucinich has promised to introduce legislation to end the FED's power to create the nation's money, and thus control the economic and financial future of the country.
Accomplishing these two objectives will create the mechanism necessary to achieve Obama's bold and dynamic objectives.
The establishment of a Treasury-issue, debt-free money system in this country is the only way to get America back on a path to sustainable economic stability.
And Dennis is the man to do that.
In whatever state you may live, contact your members of Congress and tell them to pay attention and be informed of Dennis' work on reining in the FED.
Greenbacks !

[scarecrow11]

ARTICLE XXXIV

OBSTRUCTION OF INVESTIGATION INTO THE ATTACKS OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution "to take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” has both personally and acting through his agents and subordinates, together with the Vice President, obstructed investigations into the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

[lgillooly]

When will we start to hold these war criminals accountable? This cannot be ignored any further.Th­ey impeached Clinton over a lie concerning a personal matter....­.This is insanity

[newyorkid]

Dennis made a great speech against the vvar in 2008 at the DNC primary convention. I shall never forget that fully hearted speech. I guess Dennis thinks Obama is better than McCain. But there is no way to ignore that Obama's victory is a bitter sweet victory against the vvar. Why such nominations like Gates, Hillary, Rahm Emanuel, et al? All were in favor of the Iraq war. I would no doubt have voted for Kucinich. But without MSM-AlPAC support, he never got a chance.

[macohmz]

I hope you read this Rep. Kucinich. From NAFTA to 911 to the Iraq war and all the things in between. Like deregulation, which removed ethics from business and turned loose an economic gang-rape, to the outsourcing of millions of jobs. All of this intermingled with ever flowing scandals and other things too numerous to mention.
I think of the analogy of a guy being dragged behind a truck till his body is in pieces. You can guess who's driving the truck. The most difficult thing about these times is the total lack of justice for crimes committed by those who have been given authority by the people. The concept of equal justice under law has been ravaged by greed along with the American people.

[Dredd]

Yes Mr. Kucinich, the war history is sordid history for sure.

Even AIG got sucked into Iraq:

http://blogdredd.blogspot.com/2009/03/aig-iraq.html

[Dredd]

The anniversary of the beginning of war was in Afghanistan ...

and remember that it is the beginning of losing the drug war on heroin ...

the US helped spread heroin addiction:

http://blogdredd.blogspot.com/2009/03/first-day-of-spring-2009.html

[AbrahamSadegh]

Department of Peace!

It would mean elevating ourselves from the instinct driven animal kingdom subject to the "survival of the fittest" mode to a higher level of the "survival of the wisest" mode reflecting our having become truly conscious that as tenants on this planet we share the "Spaceship Earth" with the rest of humanity.

It would reflect a higher level of understanding that all wars are truly civil wars.

It would include us in the category of the blessed peacemakers who "will be called children of God."

What a great day that would be for our nation and the rest of the world as it would reveal the dawn of a brighter future for humanity and the rest of planet – our home.

[TheEmptinessOfTruthiness]

Please - the snakes in the garden must be rooted out and exposed.

They are still there, slithering around and laying low til the next time

[Articulator]

If there is not threat of transparency, there is no need for the most powerful person in the world to follow the rule of law.

[kimleehan]

I don't see the problem about investigating Bush, The guy was very blatant about what he did, Did'nt even try to hide what he did, his war crimes and human rights abuse are very well documented. He even admitted to torture on Fox sunday. A prosecuter could'nt ask for a better defendant.