The Workday Liberal

Check out this story on MSNBC for the latest example of the Bush administration citing President Clintons administration to justify itself.

[Donald Rumsfeld] noted that President Bill Clinton ordered four days of bombing in December 1998.

Here is white house spokesman Scott McClellan the day after senate Democratic leader Harry Reid shut the senate down to force an investigation on the administrations manipulation of intelligence leading to the Iraq war.

"If Democrats want to talk about the threat that Saddam Hussein posed and the intelligence, they might want to start with looking at the previous administration and their own statements that they've made,"

First of all, it was President Clintons policy to contain Saddam. There can be no doubt in the mind of any sane individual that had President Clinton used the same tactics and intelligence used by the Bush administration to justify an Iraqi invasion he would have been horribly savaged by not only Republicans, but the left wing of his own party as well. Just consider the uproar from the Republican side over President Clintons masterful use of military force in the Balkans. Here is a link to an article on Daily Kos, detailing a few Republican quotes regarding the Balkan involvement. An engagement which did not cost a single American death in carrying out. Yet we are now to believe these same Republicans would have been all gung ho behind president Clinton had he chosen to invade Iraq?

If you really wish to use President Clintons positions to justify your own, please understand the consequences of going there. First, can you really cherry pick what you like about the Clinton/Iraq policy? Well if your a Republican, cherry picking the facts you like about Iraq certainly has historical precedence, but disastrous consequences. Let us consider president Clintons Iraqi policy as described by Mr. Clinton himself.

"So we will pursue a long-term strategy to contain Iraq and its weapons of mass destruction and work toward the day when Iraq has a government worthy of its people."

When it comes to president Clintons Iraq policy, it was what it was and that does not depend on what the definition of was is. President Clinton was right with his containment policy, and president Bush was wrong with the invasion.

Now if only this administration would reverse nearly 6 years of their disastrous ruining of America and truly start paying attention to how president Clinton ran the ship of state, woudn't that be refreshing.