Retiring Rep. Doug Bereuter, a Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, comes out with a stunner: A letter to constituents announcing he now believes the war in Iraq was unjustified and he wouldn’t vote again to support the war.
From the Lincoln Journal Star:
Bereuter pointed to a list of negative consequences arising from the war.
“The cost in casualties is already large and growing,” he said, “and the immediate and long-term financial costs are incredible.
“From the beginning of the conflict, it was doubtful that we for long would be seen as liberators, but instead increasingly as an occupying force.
“Now we are immersed in a dangerous, costly mess, and there is no easy and quick way to end our responsibilities in Iraq without creating bigger future problems in the region and, in general, in the Muslim world.”
This guy’s showing a lot more guts on the issue than Mr. Vietnam Valor Guy, John Kerry. Meantime, GOP damage control kicks in: Fellow House Republicans are saying Bereuter’s just getting even for not getting better committee assignments.
Yeah, I saw this. It is a big deal (in my humble opinion) when a heartland Republican says something like this. My first thought as I read it was of the Whitehouse “slash and burn” squad going after the guy; trashing him up one side and down the other. It will be interesting to see if it gets any larger coverage.