Go watch this interesting interview with Salam Pax.
And I’m proud that Sen. Boxer is one of my senators:
Well, Mr. Chairman, again I thank you. I am — Dr. Rice, I was glad you mentioned Martin Luther King — it was very appropriate, given everything. And he also said, Martin Luther King, quote, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.” And one of the things that matters most to my people in California and the people in America is this war in Iraq.
Now, it took you to page three of your testimony to mention the word “Iraq.” You said very little really about it, and only in the questioning have we been able to get into some areas. Perhaps you agree with President Bush, who said all that’s been resolved. I’m quoting today’s Post: “Bush said in an interview last week with the Washington Post that the ’04 election was a moment of accountability for the decisions he made in Iraq.” But today’s Washington Post/ABC poll found that 58 percent disapprove of his handling of the situation, to 40 percent who approve — and only 44 percent said the war was worth fighting.
So in your statement it takes you to page three to mention the word “Iraq.” Then you mention it in the context of elections — which is fine — but you never even mention indirectly the 1,366 American troops that have died, or the 10,372 who have been wounded — many mentally, as a report that I read over the weekend that maybe a third will come home and need help because of what they saw — it’s been so traumatic to them. And 25 percent of those dead are from my home state. And this from a war that was based on what everyone now says, including your own administration, were falsehoods about WMDs, weapons of mass destruction. And I’ve had tens of thousands of people from all over the country say that they disagree — although they respect the president — they disagree that this administration and the people in it shouldn’t be held accountable.
