A Democrat with integrity sets the record straight on Iraq

By Tom Quiner

“Bush lied and people died.”
“Mission accomplished.”

The essence of Bush hatred was cultivated by distortion, misrepresentation, and outright lies.
In today’s Des Moines Register, a self-proclaimed Democrat who was no fan of George W. Bush, clarified key distortions on Bush’s Iraq record:

“The June 21 letter “Cheney Shouldn’t Be Criticizing Obama’s Actions” is an example of when people say things over enough they actually believe them to be true. The story’s been repeated many times that President Bush ordered a unilateral invasion of Iraq based on the lie that Saddam Hussain had weapons of mass destruction and that Bush later declared “Mission Accomplished.”
I’m a Democrat and not a huge fan of George Bush, but I don’t need to bend the truth to support my views. In actuality, Saddam dropped poison gas on his own people and also used it against Iran. Later, the CIA advised the president and Congress that Iraq still had weapons of mass destruction (this is the same CIA that advised Susan Rice on Benghazi). As a result, Congress passed a bipartisan bill to invade Iraq.
When Bush landed on the USS Abraham Lincoln to announce major military operations were completed, the sailors hoisted a banner that declared “Mission Accomplished.” But Bush never uttered those words. Instead, he said: “Our mission continues. … The war on terror continues, yet it is not endless. We do not know the day of final victory, but we have seen the turning of the tide.”

Good letter. I respect a guy like this. Honorable people could disagree on whether we should have attacked Iraq or not. Honorable people don’t lie to advance a competing political narrative.
Both sides of this polarized nation need more honorable people like the writer above.