Mark Hogan – 1/23/11

This page was last updated on January 25, 2011.

Bush’s post-invasion blunders his legacy; Mark Hogan; Beaver County Times; January 23, 2011.

Previous letters from Mr. Hogan were entitled “Altmire must do what is right” and “Hard righters can’t call themselves centrists.” Mr. Hogan wrote three other letters I did not critique.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“I can see why letter writer Roger Strauss might want to claim Democrats also supported the Iraq War (‘Democrats backed ‘Bush’s war’ in Iraq,’ Thursday).”

[RWC] That “Democrats also supported the Iraq War” is not just a “claim,” it’s history. Mr. Strauss even provided the votes (House and Senate) by party. At the time of the vote, Democrats were the majority party in the Senate. Therefore, the Iraq War Resolution (IWR) could not have passed without Democrat support.

“It is similar to many now trying to claim the Civil War wasn’t about slavery. It has to be a deeply embarrassing history for both of them.”

[RWC] I have to admit I haven’t heard “many now trying to claim the Civil War wasn’t about slavery.”

As for “embarrassing history,” Mr. Hogan should be the one embarrassed since he appears to deny Democrat support for the IWR. Mr. Strauss didn’t deny Mr. Bush’s role. All Mr. Strauss did was point out the Iraq War had bipartisan support.

“The Resolution to Authorize Force he mentions was just that. It was created to show United States’ unity in making sure Iraq complied with the U.N. inspection mandates.”

[RWC] If the purpose of the IWR was only “to show United States’ unity in making sure Iraq complied with the U.N. inspection mandates,” why does it lead off with “To authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against Iraq?”

“But it did turn out to be a Democratic mistake as President George Bush did not listen to the cautions many Democrats gave. They insisted he exhaust all diplomatic efforts, have the support of our major allies, and be certain that Iraq really has WMD prior to using this power.”

[RWC] Above Mr. Hogan appeared to deny any Democrat support for the Iraq War, but here he appears to concede Democrat support.

Mr. Hogan seems to forget most Democrats at the time agreed Iraq had WMD. For example, then-Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) in a Senate floor speech said, “In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members.” Our allies – even the ones that didn’t join us in Iraq – and the UN Security Council unanimously agreed Iraq had unaccounted-for WMD. To date, every investigation of the issue reported that President Bush and other decision makers drew logical conclusions from the information presented by the world’s intelligence agencies.

As for “the support of our major allies,” we had that. According to The New York Times, 38 nations contributed troops to the effort.

What is Mr. Hogan’s definition of “exhaust all diplomatic efforts?”

“If you want to see some of the Democrats’ cautions, just Google Sen. John Kerry’s speech on this resolution.”

[RWC] Mr. Hogan failed to note Mr. Kerry voted for the Iraq War Resolution. Mr. Kerry’s “cautions” while voting for the IWR were simply Mr. Kerry’s attempt to have it both ways for his then-future campaign for President. As noted above, Democrats were the majority party in the Senate at the time of the vote. If they opposed the IWR, Senate Democrats could have killed it easily.

“Many people made mistakes, but this war will go down as Bush’s blunder in Baghdad. Not only for the rush to war as a knee jerk reaction to 9/11 (for which Iraq had nothing to do with), but in the diversion of resources from the justifiable action in Afghanistan and mishandling of the post-war effort.”

[RWC] What “rush to war?” Was it a rush after 12+ years of Iraq defying UN resolutions? Was 12+ months of planning a rush? What period of time would not have qualified as a “rush?”

That the Bush administration claimed Iraq involvement in 9/11 is a popular fable of the left.

As for “the justifiable action in Afghanistan,” that’s a red herring. The so-called “peace” and anti-Bush crowds opposed attacking al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Afghanistan didn’t become “the justifiable action” or “the good war” until we invaded Iraq.