You Won’t be Surprised to Hear Bob Dole a Hypocrite on Iraq

, Viagra spokesman Bob Dole attacked presidential candidate Howard Dean for his opposition to the Bush administration policy toward Iraq:

“I thank God F.D.R. was my commander in chief in WWⅡ. Had it been Howard Dean we would have not participated. This would have saved lives and none of us would have been wounded. Just one little problem: we would have lost our liberty and freedom.”

Ah well, standard partisan political posturing and all. But it reminded me about an op-ed I’d written for my college newspaper during the run-up to Operation Desert Storm. The reason why I was reminded is this excerpt:

…[W]hile Congress worked to pass sanctions against Iraq, the Bush Administration opposed sanctions and tried to cozy up to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein…

To reassure Saddam Hussein that he had the Bush Administration’s support, despite Congressional misgivings, Bush sent influential Republican Senators Arlen Specter and Robert Dole to deliver a conciliatory message to the Iraqi leader in the Iraqi city of Mosul…

If the world had stood up to Hitler soon enough, there might not have been a World War Ⅱ. Similarly, it was Bush’s refusal to accept the ounce of prevention that the Congressional sanctions packages might have been that led this country into the Gulf War.