Big Dogs Weblog

Best Judgment Available at the Time

by Big Dog on Jan 28, 2007 at 11:04 Uncategorized

For quite some time the Democrats have told Americans that they were tricked into the war. Bush lied about intelligence reports and tricked people into the war. Many of the people who make this claim are also the ones who call George Bush a stupid man. In one of life’s ironies, they are admitting that they were tricked by a person they believe they are smarter than.

I don’t believe Bush to be a dumb man and I do not believe that he lied us into war. Interestingly, the intelligence from countries around the world all agreed that Hussein had WMD. He had them and there is no evidence that he got rid of them. There are no plants to process them, no secondary wastes and no areas where it appears they were dumped or burned. If Hussein truly destroyed his chemical weapons then the world did a disservice by executing him because he could have told every other nation that is destroying its chemical weapons how to do so in such a quick and inexpensive fashion. Countries like Japan and China could use this information and it would certainly help the US and keep us from spending the billions of dollars we are in order to rid ourselves of the chemicals per international treaty.

The fact is, Hussein had those weapons and he used them on Iran and his own people. Reports indicate they were moved to Syria just before the US invasion. It does not matter where they went, he did not destroy them as everyone claims and he certainly had them. Despite the fact that the resolution to use force only contained three references (out of more than a dozen) mentioning WMD, that has been the focus of the left in their insatiable desire to get elected and to keep America from winning this war. The fat is, and this has been mentioned a number of times, the very members of Congress who now say there were no WMD are on record as saying Hussein had them and they he posed a danger. They said this during Clinton’s term in office, well before Bush took the reigns of power. Yet, this is routinely dismissed because of the pervasive hatred for the President.

In a speech on the campaign trail, a trail that keeps elected members from doing their jobs while they still get paid, Hillary Clinton said:

“I’ve taken responsibility for my vote, but there are no do-overs in life. I wish there were. I acted on the best judgment I had at the time,” she said. “The president took my vote and others’ votes and basically misused the authority we gave him.” al-Reuters

Prior to announcing her candidacy, Clinton said if she knew then what she knows now she would not have voted for the war. Well duh. It is wonderful that everyone allows her that benefit of hindsight. I wonder if Bush said that would he be more loved or portrayed as inept? The fact is Clinton had access to the same information about Iraq and its programs for quite some time and many had access long before Bush was elected. In the latest quote Clinton said she acted on the best judgment she had at the time. Well how wonderful. The fact is, they all acted on the best judgment at the time. They all acted on the same intelligence. Why is it that Hillary acted on the best at the time but Bush lied? Bush has indicated that he acted on the best information available, and yet we are continually told he lied or manipulated that information.

I can not believe that Bush manipulated the intelligence from all those other nations. Many of those nations did not support or actions and yet they provided us with intelligence that showed Hussein was a threat. If the intelligence was single source and ours I could believe it was manipulated but it is hard to imagine that could be done to everyone else’s intelligence without someone stepping up and saying “that is not what our reports said.” During this election Hillary will spend time covering her tracks and trying to have her vote for war excused while bashing the President for the very same thing.

Keep in mind that she is asking for a benefit she herself is unwilling to give. She wants you to know that if she knew then… then she would have acted differently and she wants you to believe that she acted on her best judgment (and I have no reason to doubt that) but she wants you to believe she is a good person for it while Bush is a bad guy for not knowing then what we know now and acting on the best judgment available.

It is not beyond the pale that Hillary’s best judgment was that polls showed overwhelming support for such action. That might very well have been her best judgment. Now that polls show fewer people supporting the war Hillary is squirming around like Houdini trying to get out of a straight jacket. She has to make people believe that she would not have voted a certain way if she had different information because her top opponent was not in elected office so he did not vote on the war. Yes, Hillary needs to remake herself to the anti-war crowd and try to gain their forgiveness for what is now perceived as a bad thing.

It will be interesting to see what Hillary says and does if this thing turns decidedly in the favor of America in the next year. Suppose we really mop up and the country is back in the hands of its leaders and running well, will she then claim her vote was a proper one?

Hillary states that she used the best judgment available at the time. I can accept that so long as the people who will give her a pass because of that statement will do the same for the President.

[tags]war, Iraq, Hillary, Bush, terror, intelligence, election, campaign[/tags]

Tags: Commentary