Tuesday, July 08, 2003
A conservative on conservatives on WMD: Doug Bandow, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a former special assistant to President Reagan, on WMD:
“The answer matters for the simplest practical reasons. Possible intelligence failures need to be corrected. Washington's loss of credibility should be addressed; saying ‘trust me’ will be much harder for this president in the future or a future president. ...
“It is foolish to turn the Iraq war, a prudential political question, into a philosophical test for conservatism. It is even worse to demand unthinking support for Bush. He should be pressed on the issue of WMD - by conservatives. Fidelity to the Constitution and republican government demands no less.”
“The answer matters for the simplest practical reasons. Possible intelligence failures need to be corrected. Washington's loss of credibility should be addressed; saying ‘trust me’ will be much harder for this president in the future or a future president. ...
“It is foolish to turn the Iraq war, a prudential political question, into a philosophical test for conservatism. It is even worse to demand unthinking support for Bush. He should be pressed on the issue of WMD - by conservatives. Fidelity to the Constitution and republican government demands no less.”
