"I weep for my country" - An article from Yahoo Ne

UncleMilo · Post by **UncleMilo** » Thu Mar 20, 2003 12:25 am

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The oldest voice in the U.S. Congress rose on Wednesday to denounce as misguided President Bush march to war with Iraq.

"Today I weep for my country," said West Virginia Democrat Sen. Robert Byrd. "No more is the image of America one of strong, yet benevolent peacekeeper. ... Around the globe, our friends mistrust us, our word is disputed, our intentions are questioned.

"We flaunt our superpower status with arrogance," Byrd said, adding: "After war has ended the United States will have to rebuild much more than the country of Iraq. We will have to rebuild America's image around the globe."

Byrd, who has been a leading foe on Capitol Hill of war with Iraq, spoke in a nearly empty Senate chamber about four hours before Bush's 8 p.m. EST deadline for Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq or face a U.S.-led invasion.

"May God continue to bless the United States of America in the troubled days ahead, and may we somehow recapture the vision which for the present eludes us," Byrd said.

As the white-haired senator concluded his remarks, a number of people in the visitor's gallery rose and applauded before they were admonished to be quiet.

At 85, Byrd is now the oldest member of Congress as well as the longest serving. He was first elected to the Senate in 1958, after six years in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Byrd was among those who voted last year against the congressional resolution that authorized Bush to use force in his showdown with Saddam, and the senator has given frequent floor speeches since then warning against war.

Polls on Wednesday showed strong American support for a war but widespread opposition to it overseas.

"The case this administration tries to make to justify its fixation with war is tainted by charges of falsified documents and circumstantial evidence," Byrd said.

Despite administration suggestions to the contrary, Byrd said, "There is no credible information to connect Saddam Hussein to 9/11."

The senator said, "We cannot convince the world of the necessity of this war for one simple reason. This is a war of choice."

Byrd said that instead of negotiating, Washington demanded obedience or threatened recrimination. "Instead of isolating Saddam Hussein, we seem to have isolated ourselves."

He said many questions about the looming war were unanswered -- including how long it would last, what it would cost, what its ultimate mission was.

"A pall has fallen over the Senate chamber," Byrd said. "We avoid our solemn duty to debate the one topic on the minds of all Americans, even while scores of thousands of our sons and daughters faithfully do their duty in Iraq."

EarthCurrent · Post by **EarthCurrent** » Thu Mar 20, 2003 12:49 am

Ah, Robert Byrd, the gentleman senator who coined the phrase "white nigger" and once recruited for the Klan. Truly a paragon of justice.

OtakuOutpost · Post by **OtakuOutpost** » Thu Mar 20, 2003 1:33 am

earthcurrent wrote:Ah, Robert Byrd, the gentleman senator who coined the phrase "white nigger" and once recruited for the Klan. Truly a paragon of justice.

Yet klansman Byrd does speak a great deal of truth in the above article. We will have to rebuild our image in the world. We are an arrogant nation which flaunts it's status. We are the biggest Mo.Fo. right now. You can think of us as the world's moderator right now. With the power to kick everyone's ass, our actions are under a greater scruitiny.

If a small country attacks us, they better know we're coming after them. If we attack another country we must do so only in defense, otherwise we are automatically the bully.

This war is the first war where we have become the agressor in an attempt to overthrow a sovreign nation who has not attacked us. It sends a very scary message to the rest of the world.

--Tony

EarthCurrent · Post by **EarthCurrent** » Thu Mar 20, 2003 1:49 am

OtakuOutpost wrote:This war is the first war where we have become the agressor in an attempt to overthrow a sovreign nation who has not attacked us. It sends a very scary message to the rest of the world.

I'm certain there are a number of American Indian tribes that would beg to differ with this comment.

buddykiller · Post by **buddykiller** » Thu Mar 20, 2003 2:19 am

fuckin hell yea, i didn't know wv's senator was apposed to the war, that kicks ass, for once i agree with my senator about something... O_O wait a minute thats fucking scary....

EarthCurrent · Post by **EarthCurrent** » Thu Mar 20, 2003 2:30 am

buddykiller wrote:fuckin hell yea, i didn't know wv's senator was apposed to the war, that kicks ass, for once i agree with my senator about something... O_O wait a minute thats fucking scary....

Hey, where's ol Stalin, Hitler, and Mao Tse Tung in your banner, buddykiller?

Number of murders of unarmed non-combats during the time of their regimes:

Stalin 20 Million, Hitler 15 Million, Mao 10 Million

El Banana · Post by **El Banana** » Thu Mar 20, 2003 2:39 am

Then again, they'd be last century, no?

EarthCurrent · Post by **EarthCurrent** » Thu Mar 20, 2003 3:03 am

El Banana wrote:Then again, they'd be last century, no?

DUH!!!
Hey...that's right...I'm still living in the twentieth century...God I should get with it...

...or go to bed...

El Banana · Post by **El Banana** » Thu Mar 20, 2003 3:08 am

I'm off to bed.
Jeebus, I'm gonna get RAPED by the test tomorrow...

Cain T. Longshot · Post by **Cain T. Longshot** » Thu Mar 20, 2003 10:29 am

"Ahh, i do so love the smell of napalm in the morning." ~My uncle thomas, Vietnam vet

This is a sad state of affairs we're in now. *Sigh* I can't believe i may be called to kill someone who doesn't have any arguement with me...i hate this...i hate it so very very much...america is supposed to show the world by example on how to treat your people and how to run a democracy...instead...we show the rest of the world how destroy other countries...how we don't care about the truly innocent in this dick waving contest...bahh...i'm going back to bed...it's too depressing to stay awake for the moment...