The fatigue is becoming unbearable. How much longer do progressives and other rational beings who saw through the charades of the rush to war in 2002-2003 have to keep listening to John Kerry and George W. Bush pander and spin their support for an illegitimate war? Many of us knew this war was never about WMDs or Iraqi connections to Al-Qaeda, and most, if not all of the members of congress who voted for it in 2002 knew it as well.

As the brother of a 9/11 victim, I joined half a dozen other victims’ relatives Washington D.C. in late September 2002 to lobbying members of congress to vote against the war resolution. What was clear to anyone on Capitol Hill during those days is that most people knew the intelligence information was suspect and illogical, knew Saddam Hussein had no intention of ever giving our country a legitimate reason to remove him from power, and knew they were being played by Karl Rove. What is often forgotten about this sad episode in our nation’s history is that all of this was being forced onto congress a little over one month before the 2002 mid-term elections. In Oct. 2002, the members of Congress fell into 3 distinct categories.

The first group of senators and house members were the true believers in the Bush doctrine (and yes, there are Democrats who definitely fall into this category). In the post-9/11 world they had fully bought into the neoconservative, black and white view of the world and felt the only way to protect America was to “rid the world of evil” through preemption. They did not necessarily have to believe any of the WMD talk, they were willing to acting preemptively to any vague threat because they were unwilling to look at the true roots of terrorism. They were instead won over by the Bush administration notion that there are a finite number of evil people in the world that we have to go kill, before they kill us. Oh, and by the way, they want to kill us because they hate our freedom so much. John Kerry does not fit into this category.

The second group are the representatives and senators who were firmly against the war because they knew it had nothing to do with keeping America safe, and had everything to do with solidifying political advantage for Republicans in 2002 and 2004. This group consisted of Dennis Kucinich, other members of the Progressive Caucus, and liberal Senators like Ted Kennedy who had an amenable constituency at home that would never punish him at the voting booth for opposing the war. They followed their conscience and integrity, and have been shown to be on the right side of history, yet amazingly still totally not vindicated politically.

The third and least talked about group were the people who voted for the war not because they believed the ridiculous and shaky WMD claims, and talk of “imminent attacks” from Saddam Hussein, or because they believed in the “Bush Doctrine”, but rather because they either had a tremendously disinformed and terrified constituency base at home who were at risk of voting them out of office one month later, or were planning to run for President in 2004. For the latter, enter: John Kerry, John Edwards, Dick Gephardt, and Tom Daschle. They made a political decision to protect themselves from not knowing how the war would play out politically in 2004. They gambled and lost. And even now Kerry fails to take advantage of the fact that a majority of Americans now oppose the war by saying he’d still vote “yes” given that we now know the basis for the war was completely unfounded. Of course there were a good many Americans who knew it was bunk two years ago, but that seems to still be irrelevant.

All of this is not only frustrating, but more importantly, very sad. Sad for the military families who’ve lost their loved ones to murder in Iraq and now have to confront the fact that it was mostly for politics. Sad for the memories of people like my brother David who were murdered by terrorists 3 years ago and then were used by politicians for an unnecessary and illegal war. Sad for the people of Iraq who had no say in the decision over whether they were willing to sacrifice over 10,000 of their own citizens in order to get rid of Saddam Hussein. And sad for our country, who now has to deal with an increase in post-war anti-American hatred and a decentralized terrorist network that can never be defeated militarily.

Believe me, I support John Kerry and his candidacy. However, it is indeed sad that he refuses to oppose this tragic war. He should do so, if not on principle, then at least because it would help him politically— because it surely would.

Andrew Rice is the director of the Red River Democracy Project in Oklahoma City. His brother David Rice was 31 years old when he was killed in the WTC on 9/11/01.

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