Bismarck, North Dakota News

" Republicans had the senate, the house, the executive branch, and the supreme court. They got us into this mess in Iraq, now Bush needs to get us out. Bush will be remembered as one of the worst presidents ever in American history. If he is a "war president" as he says he is, then he has failed miserably. He should ave gone after Bin Laden, you know, the guy that actually attacked the US. But instead he said "you know I don't really spend that much time thinking about him" So called Liberals don't even need to bash bush anymore, the republicans are doing it themselves. They are all jumping off of the Bush Titanic, fearful they will be thought of as connected to one of the most terrible presidents we've ever had. "

" No way on God's green earth is Bush a decent, honorable family man. "

" to herbi: yes that is something people who are die hards toward certain political sides want to not bring up....I have no particular affiliation towards reps or dem.....i believe both sides are all of the same characteristics....but what has gone on in this administration has been terrible and majority of it falls on the reps shoulders...but not all.....now that everyone is started to realize the problem with this war it seems as though a stubborn Pres. is denial and trying to stay the course....even when he acknowledges that that might not be the best route...he still is too stubborn....I don't think americans would have too much of a problem if he acknowledges he needs to change his ways and actually does....he still can restore some credability to his office yet.... "

" When we went after Osama Bin Laden we had almost 100% support of not only Americans, but internationally. That is because after the attacks on 9.11.01 the world community understood that those attacks were carried out under the support and guidance of OBL who was being housed by the Taliban government in Afghanistan. When "we" decided to divert our attention from finding Osama Bin Ladan, who was the perp of 9/11, in order to attack Iraq, who had nothing to do with 9/11, the world community began to question us. (Many Americans also began to question the policies.) They wanted to support us because of the attacks, but because the evidence did not support "our" contention, they did not support us, or become partners in the "coalition of the willing." The information provided to the people in Congress was only what was meant for them to see in order to provide cover for this "unitary executive" that has exerted itself. "

" Yes, Mouth from the South they do have access to intelligence reports, and they too can be led down a primrose path just as quickly as he general public can be. They ARE NOT omniscient. Quite the opposite. IMNSHO some are as dumb as a box of rocks and their speeches prove it. To voluntarily sell yourself and your constituents into a slave state puts the persons doing that on my "dumb as a box of rocks" list. "

" If any of you posters seriously believe that our Congressmen/women did not have the intelligence that President Bush had, some even before he did, you are very naive about how politics work. I do believe our people in Congress, both Democrats and Republicans are intelligent, conscientious and most of them think for themselves. They also have their own sources of information. Why do think that they all employ advisors, etc.? I seriously do not think that they were lead, like sheep to slaughter, by President Bush. They voted to invade Iraq because they wanted to. That was the mood of the country at the time. They thought it would be a great political move. Didn't work out the way they thought and now mqny of them are like rats deserting a ship. Some of them can quit their jobs to get away, like Powell and others just distance themselves, like some members of Congress. The President, however, does not have these options. He is stuck with having to deal with bad decisions, whether they were made by Congress or by himself. I, personally, did not expect us to 'win' this war. I hoped that the best we could do would be to topple Saddaam and then let the people of Iraq determine their own future. And maybe they will in five or ten years down the line. We, here in America, had our own civil war and it took us a few years to resolve our own internal conflicts even after the war was officially declared as over. Oh, another thought, if President Bush is so lacking in intelligence, just how did he get these supposedly intelligent Congressmen to believe him? "

" do you people remember when all the nations were meeting to listen to the US claims of why we needed to go to war? Do you people remember how nobody supported us...they didn't believe in the evidence at that time? Remember they all wore those funny ear pieces to listen to the translations? I do....nobody supported us...everybody wanted more evidence....powell got out when he could....when this is all said and done we will hear the full story and hear about all the errors that were made in this war, by what has already been indicated as the "worse administration" in the history of the united states.... "

" Iraq did have weapons of mass destruction. He used them in his war with Iran and against people in his own country. The unfortunate thing for us Americans is that during the 1980s, the United States helped him the technology to develop those weapons. Donald Rumsfeld was part of that process. Also, when he was using these weapons against Iran, the Reagan Administration did nothing to stop him, because we were on his side. A big question for all of us now is where do we go from here. The whole situation is a terrible mess and we are a big part of the mess. "

" It is also interesting that even the Bush administration is downplaying connections between Saddam and WMDs. Now the war was about ousting an evil government who "killed his own people" by the thousands. For that, my question is, "Why nothing has been done about Darfur"...or do we usually wait 20+ years? The other excuse is that "if we had 'finished the job in 1991 we wouldn't be where we are now. At the time George H.W. Bush administration said that if they went into Baghdad and ousted Saddam Hussein that Iraq was likely to devolve into factional fighting (aka "civil war) and disputes and Iran would likely get more power in the Middle East without Iraq there to thwart them. So much for the "no one could have predicted that this would happen in Iraq." "

" KC - you missed the memo. Bush no longer cares about the whereabouts of Osama. "

" OK, let's take this one at a time. 1) Contrary to popular belief the full senate DID NOT see "all" of the intelligence. At best they were given hand-picked intelligence. One of the co-chairs of the intelligence committee commented that he and the other co-chair were given access to more but were sworn not to share what they heard with anyone, including the rest of the intelligence committee. If the intelligence committee did not get "all" of the intelligence, then I seriously doubt that anyone else in the senate did. 2.) I see nothing wrong with voting for a war and then, several years later, going against it. Why are conservatives so afraid to change their minds when presented with new information. This is not "lack of resolve," but rather accepting reality. Rather than assuming that we knew everything when the war started it admits that mistakes were made. 3) Finally, the letter has an incredibly weak ending. Even if President Bush is a "decent and honorable family man" I would hope for even more from the President of the United States. Intelligent, Effective, Reasonable all come to mind as far better qualifications for president (or "respect" for that matter) than "decent and honorable family man." "

" It may have been the best intel but it was still handpicked intel to give Bush's desired conclusion, war in Iraq. Iraq was no threat to us. By the way where is Osama? And what did he have to do with Iraq? "

" Hey Punker, if you thought shock and awe was great on TV, you should've seen it in person. How about if you get a haircut and see if you can make something of your life. Oh, and KC, these letters will stop when people like you pull their head out and admit that this wasn't a war based on lies, or when the U.S. is attacked again (I'm guessing the latter). This is a war based on the world's best intelligence available at the time. Ask all those people listed in the above letter. The had access to the same information that Bush did. "

" Punker - I prefer the "shock and y'all" campaign. Much more effective. "

" Does this mean we can restart 'shock and awe'?! That was great TV. "

" Seriously when are these letters trying to justify a really bad choice of a war going to stop. Everyone knows the facts now except, for those in the small minority who continue to believe this garbage. Hey Beesh if people like you continue to shout loud enough and often enough maybe some of us will be "converted." HA "

" Bush supplied the incorrect information. Based on the FAULTY info provided, it appeared that Saddam had WMD. He wanted to go to war and had to fabricate any info he could to gain support. American's should feel outraged that they were lied to by the Bush administration. Those lies help kill almost 3,000 American soldiers!!!! And there is no end in sight. "

" The Democrats in Congress HAD to agree to the war otherwise they would have been labeled as traitors by the Republicans. Bush knew he could get away with anything right after 9/11 and he took advantage of it. "

" Saddam was a nice guy, never had WMD's of anykind, was a lie about the Kurds, made up by Bush. He should have been left in power never did anything to anyone, and we the US were just picking on him. "

" Did no one listen to General Georges Asadas last week when he was in Bismarck. He was there with Saddam. There were WMDs and they were all moved to Iran and other places. Wake up people. Consider additional evidence in the movie Obsession. Go to www.obsessionthemovie.com "

" Great letter! That'll bring out the howlers. Hold up your shields, the mud is gonna fly now in these blogs! How dare you compliment Dubya? Haven't you heard that he's really the Antichrist? LOL!!! "

" Let's face it, no matter how much those of you who say Saddam didn't have or want to have WMD; you have to admit that a man with the ego he had, suredly his goal was to be considered a world player. And the way to be considered a world player is and has been to possess WMD. I don't care if they ever find WMD or not; you have to admit that as egotistical as Saddam was; he surely was working towards possessing them. "

" The problem with all those quotes is that they were all based on intelligence that was proven to be false. People were lied to, or only given the facts that supported the claim of WMDs. We now know without any doubt that the imminent threat of WMDs did not exist. Why is it that we have to continue to keep going over this same old ground? How many times do these claims have to be proven false? Didn't this past election teach these conservatives anything? "

" Good for you, Al. Referring to your last paragraph, that Bush is a decent honorable man, you are in the minority. 73% of the United States thinks that he is full of crap. I believe that those prominent Senators were using the information provided by the bush Administration as a reference for their quotes. You dont state the source of the quotes. Therefore, without being able to check them myself, I think you are full of crap too. "

" Al, great job. But you know that no amount of proof will change the liberal Democrats and the weak-kneed Republicans attempts to discredit the President and the Iraq war. Their hatred towards Bush and inability for weak GOPers to stand with the president is a panic invoked way of protecting their jobs. The same politician that demanded action in 2003, then criticized it in 2006, now want to increase deployments to Iraq in 2007. Let the military and their Commander-in-chief run the war, not a bunch of fat senators and a liberal biased media. "

" Thanks for the letter. Of course there's nothing new here, but the Bush hater's will still refuse to buy in. Come on, let the spin begin. "

" seems to me that all of these guys were full of it at one time or another, and the man that was stupid enough to invade iraq was bush, the biggest fool of all. downing street. no war plan. flowers greeting the invaders, insufficent body armor(you go to war with army you have), "bring 'em on", "the insurgecy is in its last throes", "GOD told me to invade iraq"...the etc, etc. etc... "

" OK, they all lied. The difference is that Bush used the lie to take this country to war. Of course, I'm ignoring the fact that the only information these Senators had was that provided to them by the Bush Administration. "