Last night..Sunday..I flipped over to C-Span and happened to catch a video of GW's pre Iraq resolution speech dated 10-7-2002..I think it was 4-5 days before the senate voted in favor of the (invasion) resolution.
It was interesting to see him run down the laundry list of reasons why military intervention "might" be necessary. The chemical and biological weapons (stockpiled)..."We know that the regime has produced thousands of tons of chemical agents, including mustard gas, sarin nerve gas, VX nerve gas"....harboring terrorists...he hinted strongly that Saddam was up to his ears in nuclear weapons development...he also used a quote of JFK that sounds a little ironic..
As President Kennedy said in October of 1962, "Neither the United States of America, nor the world community of nations can tolerate deliberate deception and offensive threats on the part of any nation, large or small.
Bush delivered the speech well...the substance of it is interesting in retrospect.
The Iraq resolution passed in the senate by a vote of 77-23. Kerry voted for it.
the vote..(minus all the republicans but one)
Voting "no" were 21 Democrats, one Republican and one independent.
Democrats Yes:
Baucus, Mont. Bayh, Ind. Biden, Del.
Breaux, La. Cantwell, Wash. Carnahan, Mo.
Carper, Del. Cleland, Ga. Clinton, N.Y.
Daschle, S.D. Dodd, Conn. Dorgan, N.D.
Edwards, N.C. Feinstein, Calif. Harkin, Iowa
Hollings, S.C. Johnson, S.D. Kerry, Mass.
Kohl, Wis. Landrieu, La. Lieberman, Conn.
Lincoln, Ark. Miller, Ga. Nelson, Fla.
Nelson, Neb. Reid, Nev. Rockefeller, W.Va.
Schumer, N.Y. Torricelli, N.J.
Democrats No:
Akaka, Hawaii Bingaman, N.M. Boxer, Calif
Byrd, W.Va. Conrad, N.D. Corzine, N.J.
Dayton, Minn. Durbin, Ill. Feingold, Wis
Graham, Fla. Inouye, Hawaii Kennedy, Mass.
Leahy, Vt. Levin, Mich. Mikulski, Md.
Murray, Wash. Reed, R.I. Sarbanes, Md.
Stabenow, Mich. Wellstone, Minn. Wyden, Ore.
Republicans No: Chafee, R.I.;
Others No: Jeffords, Vt.
C-Span also ran Kerry's senate speech (given around 10/10/2002) concerning the resolution right after they showed GW's.
I was very disappointed in Kerry....he showed little integrity. He did qualify his endorsement of the resolution stating that he would demand (or like to see) multi-lateral agreement with the UN and our allies before any military action was taken. But he also parroted the line that Saddam had WMD et al. Not a profile in courage.
Both speeches can be viewed on the C-Span site...they run about an hour total. It would probably be a long download with dial up .
c-span.org |
