Five Years of Lies, Misery and Death

Five years ago today, the Senate voted in the dead of night to authorize the use of military force in Iraq by a vote of 77-23. Bush heralded the vote, stating, “America speaks with one voice.” Contending that the authorization was a “blank check,” Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) warned, “This is the Tonkin Gulf resolution all over again. Let us stop, look and listen. Let us not give this president or any president unchecked power. Remember the Constitution.” Here are the 23 Senators who courageously voted no:

NAYs ---23
Akaka (D-HI) BINGAMAN (D-NM) Boxer (D-CA) Byrd (D-WV) Chafee (R-RI) Conrad (D-ND) Corzine (D-NJ) Dayton (D-MN)	Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI) Graham (D-FL) Inouye (D-HI) Jeffords (I-VT) Kennedy (D-MA) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI)	Mikulski (D-MD) Murray (D-WA) Reed (D-RI) Sarbanes (D-MD) Stabenow (D-MI) Wellstone (D-MN) Wyden (D-OR)

(h/t Think Progress)

On the House side, H J RES 114 passed by a margin of 296-133 with 3 not voting. Rep. Tom Udall (D, NM-03) voted against it. Reps. Steve Pearce (R, NM-02) and Heather Wilson (R, NM-01) voted for it. And here we are five years later, stuck in a quagmire of chaos and blood with more than $500 billion gone from the treasury and a multitude of lives lost or shattered -- both military and civilian. As of this date, members of the U.S. Military have been killed in Iraq.

U.S. Casualties By Calendar Year

Year	US Deaths	US Wounded
2003	486	2,408
2004	849	8,003
2005	846	5,948
2006	822	6,398
2007	818	4,996
Total	3821	27753

Unbelievably, Bush-Cheney and their devotees are still urging us to stay the course for VICTORY. Equally unbelievably, most of the major Dem presidential candidates won't even commit to getting our troops out by 2013! Let's make sure we hold as many as we can accountable at the ballot box. Remember.