And a good one at that …
Trent Lott should have a lot to talk about with his friends in the MSM after today’s Senate Republican Policy Lunch. According to sources close to Senate leadership, Senator Frist is expected to unleash a huge broadside against Democrats, and present a blue print for his colleagues to push back hard against the Dems pathetic, “I voted for war, but really wanted to vote against it with 20/20 hindsight” arguments. The following memo and a 10 page set of quotes from Democrats going back to 1998 reads like a “greatest hits” of Democrats presenting a very hawkish take on Saddam Hussein and Iraq. Good to see them pushing back hard. Read the whole document here.
TO: Senate Republicans
FR: Majority Leader Bill Frist
DT: November 15, 2005
RE: Iraq Rhetoric: Weapons of Mass Distortion
Democrats are claiming the Bush Administration manipulated and “cherry-picked” intelligence before commencing military operations in Iraq. By making such claims, they are waging a public relations campaign of mass deception. Their accusations defy reason, logic and fact … and their own words. Throughout the Clinton Administration, Democrats – up to and including the president, vice president, secretary of state, national security adviser and more – warned of the dangers posed to America by Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction. There was no question of “if,” only “where” and “how much.” They told the American people of the horrifying effects of anthrax, VX, botulism and other unconventional weapons. President Clinton “guaranteed” that Saddam, left to his own devices, would use such weapons again. Administration officials raised the prospect of Saddam’s weapons finding their way into the hands of terrorists.
When the Clinton Administration warned of these gathering dangers, Democrats did not question the validity of the intelligence. Instead, they stressed the urgent nature of the threat – some even argued for more sustained military action to curtail Saddam’s obsession with weapons of mass destruction. The conclusion that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction and sought an even more lethal capacity was a premise held by intelligence agencies under the last two administrations, as well as intelligence agencies from around the world.
For Democrats to engage in partisan finger-pointing now ignores their own statements from not long ago. Attached please find a summary of Democrat statements in which they consistently warn the country of the threat posed by Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. I hope you will find this useful when discussing the matter with constituents and the press.
