Garling Gauge

Five-Year Anniversary of Iraq War

President George W. Bush remarks on the passage of a House resolution authorizing him to use military force in Iraq during a press conference in the Roosevelt Room Thursday, Oct. 10, 2002. White House photo by Paul Morse. -White House website

“This is a debate and a decision that all Americans can be proud of.”

Feel proud?

It has been five years since the Congress enacted a resolution to authorize the Iraq war. Yes, it has been five long years, and five years ago yesterday President Bush stated:

I would like to thank the members of the House of Representatives, just as I thanked Speaker Hastert and Leader Gephardt a few minutes ago, for the very strong bipartisan vote authorizing the use of force in Iraq if it becomes necessary.

The House debate was conducted in the best traditions of the United States Congress. It was spirited, it was civil, and it was informed. This is a debate and a decision that all Americans can be proud of.

To commemorate the anniversary of this foreign policy disaster, ThinkProgress in its wisdom posted the following graph with the prefice, “Here is the list of 133 House members who courageously voted no” to granting President Bush military power all those long years ago:

In light of the anniversary, the Garling Gauge offers this tiny pictorial montage of the Iraq war. While those authorizing the war presumably had good intentions, all wars are crimes.

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES