[Vision2020] Just When You Thought You've Heard Everything . . .

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (December 2, 2007) Spokesman Review -

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Rove blames Congress for rushing vote on war 
Democrats say he's trying to rewrite history

Karl Rove
http://tinyurl.com/26xluq

Peter Baker 
Washington Post
December 2, 2007

WASHINGTON - Former deputy White House chief of staff Karl Rove said that
Congress rushed to vote on the looming war in Iraq in the fall of 2002 over
the objections of the Bush administration, a version of events disputed by
leading congressional Democrats and even some of Rove's former colleagues.

Rove said the administration did not want lawmakers to vote on a resolution
authorizing the use of force against Iraq that soon because it would "make
things move too fast" before President Bush could line up international
allies and would politicize the issue with midterm congressional elections
looming. But Democrats and some Republicans involved with the issue at the
time said that Bush wanted a quick vote.

The comments by Rove in a television interview foreshadowed his attempt to
influence the record through a book he plans to write to correct what he
says are misperceptions and to reveal what really happened during the
eventful Bush presidency.

Speaking with Charlie Rose on his PBS talk show recently, Rove said "one of
the untold stories about the war is why did the United States Congress .
vote on the war resolution in the fall of 2002." Asked to elaborate, he said
the White House was pushed into having the vote, and that Congress controls
its own schedule, not the president.
 
"The administration was opposed to voting on it in the fall of 2002," Rove
said. Asked why, he said: "Because we didn't think it belonged within the
confines of the election. There was an election coming up within a matter of
weeks. We thought it made it too political. We wanted it outside the
confines of it. It seemed to make things move too fast. There were things
that needed to be done to bring along allies and potential allies abroad."

Democrats reacted angrily and accused him of trying to rewrite history.
"Either he has a very faulty memory, or he's not telling the truth," said
former Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle, D-S.D. In an interview,
Daschle said that he raised the timing of the vote with Bush during a
leadership breakfast at the White House in late September. "They told us
time was of the essence and they needed the vote and they were going to move
forward," he said.

Rove declined to comment further. News accounts and transcripts from the
time show Bush publicly arguing against any delay of the vote. Asked by
reporters on Sept. 13, 2002, about Democrats who did not want to vote until
after the U.N. Security Council acted, the president said, "If I were
running for office, I'm not sure how I'd explain to the American people -
say, 'Vote for me, and, oh, by the way, on a matter of national security, I
think I'm going to wait for somebody else to act.' "

The House voted on the issue Oct. 10, and the Senate voted the next day.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

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"In America, anybody can become president.  
That's one of the risks you take . . ."

- Adlai Stevenson

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