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Dean: Bush Statements on Iraq Demand an Investigation
Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean on Tuesday called for an independent investigation of President Bush and his justification for the U.S.-led war against Iraq, arguing that the commander in chief misled the country.
"I think the president owes this country an explanation because what the president said was not entirely truthful, and he needs to explain why that was,'' Dean said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Dean cited a number of statements made by Bush and other senior administration officials about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the dangers that the regime posed to the United States. The candidate said the claims were made even though officials knew they weren't true.
"We need a thorough look at what really happened going into Iraq,'' Dean said. "It appears to me that what the president did was make a decision to go into Iraq sometime in early 2002, or maybe even late 2001, and then try to get the justification afterward.''
Earlier Tuesday, Bush fired back at his critics who have suggested that the administration inflated prewar intelligence data on Iraq's weapons program as a justification for war. He said the most overlooked fact is that "the people of Iraq are free.''
"I know there's a lot of revisionist history going on. But he (Saddam Hussein) is no longer a threat to the free world,'' Bush said during an appearance at a community college in a Washington suburb.
Bush's spokesman, Ari Fleischer, also told reporters that the president still believes such weapons existed.
It is highly unlikely that Bush would move forward with an independent inquiry even if the criticism grows louder.
Dean, an outspoken opponent of the war, said an independent probe is warranted because the Republican-controlled Congress is unwilling to challenge a popular GOP president.
"No one is going to trust a right-wing Congress to do this,'' said the former Vermont governor.
Dean's rival, Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, also said Tuesday that the inability of coalition forces to find weapons of mass destruction at this point calls into question the credibility of the administration.
Regarding Graham, Dean sought to smooth the waters with his foe after saying on Monday that the senator is "not one of the top-tier candidates'' seeking the party's nomination, a comment Dean regretted.
Dean said he would speak with Graham during an upcoming joint campaign appearance.
"I'll see him next weekend,'' Dean said. "I shouldn't be handicapping the field.''
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Copyright 2003 Salon.com .
Dean cited a number of statements made by Bush and other senior administration officials about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the dangers that the regime posed to the United States. The candidate said the claims were made even though officials knew they weren't true.
"We need a thorough look at what really happened going into Iraq,'' Dean said. "It appears to me that what the president did was make a decision to go into Iraq sometime in early 2002, or maybe even late 2001, and then try to get the justification afterward.''
Earlier Tuesday, Bush fired back at his critics who have suggested that the administration inflated prewar intelligence data on Iraq's weapons program as a justification for war. He said the most overlooked fact is that "the people of Iraq are free.''
"I know there's a lot of revisionist history going on. But he (Saddam Hussein) is no longer a threat to the free world,'' Bush said during an appearance at a community college in a Washington suburb.
Bush's spokesman, Ari Fleischer, also told reporters that the president still believes such weapons existed.
It is highly unlikely that Bush would move forward with an independent inquiry even if the criticism grows louder.
Dean, an outspoken opponent of the war, said an independent probe is warranted because the Republican-controlled Congress is unwilling to challenge a popular GOP president.
"No one is going to trust a right-wing Congress to do this,'' said the former Vermont governor.
Dean's rival, Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, also said Tuesday that the inability of coalition forces to find weapons of mass destruction at this point calls into question the credibility of the administration.
Regarding Graham, Dean sought to smooth the waters with his foe after saying on Monday that the senator is "not one of the top-tier candidates'' seeking the party's nomination, a comment Dean regretted.
Dean said he would speak with Graham during an upcoming joint campaign appearance.
"I'll see him next weekend,'' Dean said. "I shouldn't be handicapping the field.''
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Copyright 2003 Salon.com .
For more information:
http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2003/06/17/...
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The Problems with Howard Dean
Is it really worth all this just because he’s pro-gay rights?? He’s not an environmentalist (brought big box places to beautiful Vermont), he’s against medical marijuana (a doctor!), he only decided to be against the war in Iraq when it became clear that the others would support it (so he could distinguish himself), he is a self-described pro-AIPAC Zionist, and he believes the Palestinian violence is not due to the occupation but to ‘terrorism itself.’
Published on Wednesday, February 26, 2003 by CommonDreams.org
Howard Dean: Hawk in Dove’s Clothing?
by Stephen Zunes
". . . when it came to Israel and Palestine – the former Vermont governor declared that, while the United States should become more engaged, he did not have any fundamental objections with President George W. Bush’s policies. Dean called for an end to Palestinian violence against Israeli civilians, but he did not call for a cessation of Israeli violence against Palestinian civilians. Similarly, there was no call for an end of the Israeli occupation, for Israeli compliance with UN Security Council resolutions, or a withdrawal from Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied territories or even a freeze on the construction of new settlements."
"When asked by the Jewish newspaper Forward late last year as to whether he supported APN’s perspective, Governor Dean replied ‘No, my view is closer to AIPAC's view.’"
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0226-04.htm
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Presidential Hopefuls Push Energy Alternatives, Pan Kyoto
by Katherine Stapp
"Former Vermont governor Howard Dean has sided most closely with the Bush administration, endorsing the National Governors Association policy, which opposed the Kyoto Protocol unless it included mandatory emissions cuts for developing countries. The policy recommended that the United States "not sign or ratify any agreement that would result in serious harm to the U.S. economy."
"Of the Democrats now running, only Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich has stated, "the U.S. must ratify the Kyoto Protocol."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0610-01.htm
Published on Tuesday, June 3, 2003 by the Madison Capital Times
Kucinich Draws Crowd, But Not Media
by John Nichols
"Dean, a self-proclaimed fiscal conservative with a so-so record on issues of concern to working people, has been dubbed the acceptable "liberal" by the inside-the-Beltway crowd."
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0603-06.htm
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 3, 2003
3:23 PM
CONTACT: Marijuana Policy Project
Bruce Mirken, 202-462-5747 x113
Medical Marijuana Becomes Presidential Campaign Issue Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana Begins Organizing in New Hampshire
"Vermont Gov. Howard Dean killed a medical marijuana bill that was on the verge of passage in 2002, ignoring pleas from the medical community, AIDS patient groups, and others."
"This week, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio became the first Democratic candidate to stand up for patients, telling the San Francisco Chronicle on May 29 that he supports legal access to medical marijuana ‘without reservation. ... I have known people who have had cancer and who have been in horrible pain. Anything that can alleviate their suffering should be available.’"
http://www.commondreams.org/news2003/0603-08.htm
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 25, 2002
4:31 PM
CONTACT: Marijuana Policy Project
Bruce Mirken, 202-462-5747 x113
Vermont Senate Panel Approves Medical Marijuana
"’The pundits in Montpelier and elsewhere pronounced the medical marijuana bill dead on arrival when Representative David Zuckerman (P-Burlington) introduced it earlier this year,’ Rogers said. ‘H. 645 has overcome powerful opposition from Governor Howard Dean because courageous medical marijuana patients -- who risk arrest and imprisonment every day -- delivered powerful testimony in House and Senate committees. Patients convinced legislators that seriously ill Vermonters shouldn't go to jail for the simple act of taking their medicine. A vote for H. 645 is a vote to protect patients and a vote against H. 645 is a vote to put sick people in prison.’"
http://www.commondreams.org/news2002/0425-08.htm
Voter Guide
Name: Howard Dean
In short: Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean is the only candidate who has actually killed a medical marijuana bill. Because of Dean's actions, Vermonters with AIDS, cancer, and other terrible illnesses still face arrest and jail under state law for using medical marijuana. In recent statements he has attempted to sound reasonable, but his actions have shown that medical marijuana patients can never trust him. The only reason we give Dean an F+ and not a straight F is because the latter grade should be reserved for Bush, who is as cruel and heartless as anyone could possibly be on the medical marijuana issue.
http://www.GraniteStaters.com/guide/dean.html
February 22, 2003
Meet Howard Dean
The Man from Vermont is Not Green (He's Not Even a Liberal)
by MICHAEL COLBY
"As the son of a wealthy Long Island family (his father was a prominent Wall Street insider), Dean's used to having his golden path well greased. After dutifully attending Yale and then medical school, Dean looked for a state to launch both a private medical practice and a political career. He chose Vermont as much for its beauty as its lenient mood toward carpet bagging politicians, thus joining Brooklynite Bernie Sanders as a born again Vermonter.
Dean became Vermont's accidental governor in 1991 after Governor Richard Snelling died of a heart attack while swimming in his pool. Dean, the lieutenant governor at the time, took the state's political reins and immediately followed through with his promise not to offend the Snelling Republicans who occupied the executive branch. And Dean carried on with his right-leaning centrism for the next eleven, long years."
http://www.counterpunch.org/colby02222003.html
Dean replacing critics on environmental advisory panel
April 8, 2001
(from the Regional news section)
By JOHN DILLON
Staff Writer
MONTPELIER - A leading environmentalist was asked to leave Gov. Howard Dean's council of environmental advisers after she criticized the governor's short-lived proposal for a coal-fired power plant in Vermont.
Elizabeth Courtney, executive director of the Vermont Natural Resources Council, was one of 20 members of the governor's environmental council, which meets about once every three months with the governor.
But after Courtney wrote a newspaper opinion piece faulting Dean for his brief advocacy of a coal plant, she learned she was no longer welcome on the council. David Rocchio, the governor's legal counsel, wrote her late last month to say she will be replaced on the council by VNRC's board chairman. The move came after she had written the governor on energy issues and showed his staff her draft newspaper piece, Courtney said.
http://timesargus.nybor.com/Archive/Articles/Article/23996
Is Howard Dean For Real? Well, Not Entirely
By Morton M. Kondracke
Roll Call Contributing Writer
January 27, 2003
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean ought to do well in the Iowa Democratic caucuses — unless the anti-war folks out there find out where he really stands on Iraq.
http://www.rollcall.com/pub/48_51/kondracke/273-1.html
Gov. Dean's Slander of Mumia / Protesters
Bob Witanek (bwitanek [at] IGC.APC.ORG)
Mon, 19 Aug 1996 21:13:31 -0700
More on Vermont Governor Howard Dean's slanderous attack against the six protesters arrested last summer during efforts to halt the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal. The following is an excerpt from Peter Freyne's column "Inside Track" in the August 7, 1996, issue of Vermont's weekly newspaper, Seven Days.
http://venus.soci.niu.edu/~archives/ABOLISH/summer96/0173.html
Is it really worth all this just because he’s pro-gay rights?? He’s not an environmentalist (brought big box places to beautiful Vermont), he’s against medical marijuana (a doctor!), he only decided to be against the war in Iraq when it became clear that the others would support it (so he could distinguish himself), he is a self-described pro-AIPAC Zionist, and he believes the Palestinian violence is not due to the occupation but to ‘terrorism itself.’
Published on Wednesday, February 26, 2003 by CommonDreams.org
Howard Dean: Hawk in Dove’s Clothing?
by Stephen Zunes
". . . when it came to Israel and Palestine – the former Vermont governor declared that, while the United States should become more engaged, he did not have any fundamental objections with President George W. Bush’s policies. Dean called for an end to Palestinian violence against Israeli civilians, but he did not call for a cessation of Israeli violence against Palestinian civilians. Similarly, there was no call for an end of the Israeli occupation, for Israeli compliance with UN Security Council resolutions, or a withdrawal from Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied territories or even a freeze on the construction of new settlements."
"When asked by the Jewish newspaper Forward late last year as to whether he supported APN’s perspective, Governor Dean replied ‘No, my view is closer to AIPAC's view.’"
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0226-04.htm
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Presidential Hopefuls Push Energy Alternatives, Pan Kyoto
by Katherine Stapp
"Former Vermont governor Howard Dean has sided most closely with the Bush administration, endorsing the National Governors Association policy, which opposed the Kyoto Protocol unless it included mandatory emissions cuts for developing countries. The policy recommended that the United States "not sign or ratify any agreement that would result in serious harm to the U.S. economy."
"Of the Democrats now running, only Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich has stated, "the U.S. must ratify the Kyoto Protocol."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0610-01.htm
Published on Tuesday, June 3, 2003 by the Madison Capital Times
Kucinich Draws Crowd, But Not Media
by John Nichols
"Dean, a self-proclaimed fiscal conservative with a so-so record on issues of concern to working people, has been dubbed the acceptable "liberal" by the inside-the-Beltway crowd."
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0603-06.htm
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 3, 2003
3:23 PM
CONTACT: Marijuana Policy Project
Bruce Mirken, 202-462-5747 x113
Medical Marijuana Becomes Presidential Campaign Issue Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana Begins Organizing in New Hampshire
"Vermont Gov. Howard Dean killed a medical marijuana bill that was on the verge of passage in 2002, ignoring pleas from the medical community, AIDS patient groups, and others."
"This week, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio became the first Democratic candidate to stand up for patients, telling the San Francisco Chronicle on May 29 that he supports legal access to medical marijuana ‘without reservation. ... I have known people who have had cancer and who have been in horrible pain. Anything that can alleviate their suffering should be available.’"
http://www.commondreams.org/news2003/0603-08.htm
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 25, 2002
4:31 PM
CONTACT: Marijuana Policy Project
Bruce Mirken, 202-462-5747 x113
Vermont Senate Panel Approves Medical Marijuana
"’The pundits in Montpelier and elsewhere pronounced the medical marijuana bill dead on arrival when Representative David Zuckerman (P-Burlington) introduced it earlier this year,’ Rogers said. ‘H. 645 has overcome powerful opposition from Governor Howard Dean because courageous medical marijuana patients -- who risk arrest and imprisonment every day -- delivered powerful testimony in House and Senate committees. Patients convinced legislators that seriously ill Vermonters shouldn't go to jail for the simple act of taking their medicine. A vote for H. 645 is a vote to protect patients and a vote against H. 645 is a vote to put sick people in prison.’"
http://www.commondreams.org/news2002/0425-08.htm
Voter Guide
Name: Howard Dean
In short: Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean is the only candidate who has actually killed a medical marijuana bill. Because of Dean's actions, Vermonters with AIDS, cancer, and other terrible illnesses still face arrest and jail under state law for using medical marijuana. In recent statements he has attempted to sound reasonable, but his actions have shown that medical marijuana patients can never trust him. The only reason we give Dean an F+ and not a straight F is because the latter grade should be reserved for Bush, who is as cruel and heartless as anyone could possibly be on the medical marijuana issue.
http://www.GraniteStaters.com/guide/dean.html
February 22, 2003
Meet Howard Dean
The Man from Vermont is Not Green (He's Not Even a Liberal)
by MICHAEL COLBY
"As the son of a wealthy Long Island family (his father was a prominent Wall Street insider), Dean's used to having his golden path well greased. After dutifully attending Yale and then medical school, Dean looked for a state to launch both a private medical practice and a political career. He chose Vermont as much for its beauty as its lenient mood toward carpet bagging politicians, thus joining Brooklynite Bernie Sanders as a born again Vermonter.
Dean became Vermont's accidental governor in 1991 after Governor Richard Snelling died of a heart attack while swimming in his pool. Dean, the lieutenant governor at the time, took the state's political reins and immediately followed through with his promise not to offend the Snelling Republicans who occupied the executive branch. And Dean carried on with his right-leaning centrism for the next eleven, long years."
http://www.counterpunch.org/colby02222003.html
Dean replacing critics on environmental advisory panel
April 8, 2001
(from the Regional news section)
By JOHN DILLON
Staff Writer
MONTPELIER - A leading environmentalist was asked to leave Gov. Howard Dean's council of environmental advisers after she criticized the governor's short-lived proposal for a coal-fired power plant in Vermont.
Elizabeth Courtney, executive director of the Vermont Natural Resources Council, was one of 20 members of the governor's environmental council, which meets about once every three months with the governor.
But after Courtney wrote a newspaper opinion piece faulting Dean for his brief advocacy of a coal plant, she learned she was no longer welcome on the council. David Rocchio, the governor's legal counsel, wrote her late last month to say she will be replaced on the council by VNRC's board chairman. The move came after she had written the governor on energy issues and showed his staff her draft newspaper piece, Courtney said.
http://timesargus.nybor.com/Archive/Articles/Article/23996
Is Howard Dean For Real? Well, Not Entirely
By Morton M. Kondracke
Roll Call Contributing Writer
January 27, 2003
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean ought to do well in the Iowa Democratic caucuses — unless the anti-war folks out there find out where he really stands on Iraq.
http://www.rollcall.com/pub/48_51/kondracke/273-1.html
Gov. Dean's Slander of Mumia / Protesters
Bob Witanek (bwitanek [at] IGC.APC.ORG)
Mon, 19 Aug 1996 21:13:31 -0700
More on Vermont Governor Howard Dean's slanderous attack against the six protesters arrested last summer during efforts to halt the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal. The following is an excerpt from Peter Freyne's column "Inside Track" in the August 7, 1996, issue of Vermont's weekly newspaper, Seven Days.
http://venus.soci.niu.edu/~archives/ABOLISH/summer96/0173.html
What Howard Dean is actually up to is political grand standing. He has to make it know to Democrats and some independents that he has serious questions about boy George. Who doesn't. Can George actually read? Who does his driving when he is alone with his wife. Does he wash?
The point is, Howard Dean is no better than Bushhhhhhhhh.. He is a professional politician and so is Ariel Sharon. Liars and power hungry.
The point is, Howard Dean is no better than Bushhhhhhhhh.. He is a professional politician and so is Ariel Sharon. Liars and power hungry.
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