War in Iraq

I opposed the unilateral pre-emptive invasion of Iraq in the name of common sense and truth. I opposed this war in the name of the preservation of international law and stronger, collective security. I opposed this war because nowhere did I see credible evidence that Iraq posed a dire threat that warranted a pre-emptive attack on another nation and its people. Further, I opposed this war because I did not believe that we made a serious effort to exhaust all possibilities before opening the door to war.

The Bush Administration and its supporters in both Congress and the media made a case for war that was factually inaccurate, and in so doing sacrificed our nation's credibility, hampered our ability to keep our nation secure, wasted hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars, raised the debt ceiling twice, and most importantly, unnecessarily risked the lives of our brave men and women in uniform.

I voted against the original legislation giving the President the option to unilaterally attack Iraq because the request was little more than a blank check based on what we now know was false intelligence. I also opposed the resolution because of the fiscally irresponsible manner in which it was paid for. To simply borrow the money from our children's future, thus adding to the already bloated federal debt, was not a proposition I could support.

I have grave concerns about the credibility and possible misrepresentation of pre-war intelligence on Iraq. It is now clear to the whole world that Iraq was not, in fact, reconstituting its nuclear weapons program. It is equally clear that Iraq did not, in fact, have the chemical and biological weapons that the administration claimed. Further, the pre-war allegation so often made by Vice President Cheney that Iraq was in cahoots with al Qaeda has yet to be proven. I am particularly concerned that intelligence was manipulated and selectively used to support decisions that were already made at the highest levels of our government.

I have taken a number of actions to hold the administration accountable for the information they presented to the American public and Congress before the invasion of Iraq. I hosted a community forum in Shoreline, Washington, to discuss whether or not Congress should investigate the pre-war intelligence and how the administration used that intelligence. More than 1,100 Washingtonians attended the event and they overwhelmingly supported an investigation by Congress into the intelligence failures. David Kay's acknowledgment that the United States' weapons inspection team found no substantial evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq only serves to highlight the need for a thorough investigation into the pre-war intelligence.

With some of my colleagues in the House, I started the Congressional "Iraq Watch" Special Orders. The purpose of "Iraq Watch" is to examine, and evaluate the United States. past and future policies with regard to Iraq. The group will continue to study the intelligence used to justify this war and encourage President Bush seek help from the international community to rebuild the war-torn nation of Iraq. I am proud to be a cosponsor of H.R. 2625, a bill to establish an independent and bipartisan commission to investigate the administration.s use of pre-war intelligence in selling this war.

Since the 2006 election when Democrats took control of both the House and Senate, we have made some progress in forcing the Bush Administration to seek an end to the conflict, but not nearly as much progress as I and many of my colleagues and allies would have liked. I have voted multiple times now against funding the continuation of this war, and for a timeline of redeployment. Unfortunately, we simply do not have enough votes to stop this conflict. In the 2008 elections, to end the war in Iraq we will need more votes in Congress, and a Democrat in the White House, and I am working to make both of those changes a reality