Opponents of Iraq War on Way to White House?

Published in Le Figaro
(France) on 2008-06-17
by Philippe Grangereau (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Rami Assadi. Edited by .
At the end of 2002, rare was the American politician who denounced publicly the invasion of Iraq by George W. Bush. It must be said that at that time, rather curiously, 60% of Americans were certain that Saddam Hussein was behind the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Today, three of these Cassandras [Note: a term used by the author to denote those willing to speak publicly against the aforementioned political climate] are on the cusp of occupying the highest levels in a [potential] future White House:

-Barack Obama, the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate. He declared in September 2002 in regards to Iraq, “I am not opposed to all wars; I’m opposed to dumb wars.”

-Al Gore, former vice president et Nobel laureate, and who has declared his support for Obama. “This troubling war that we are about to bring to Iraq potentially could seriously damage our capacity to win the war against terrorism and weaken our ability to lead the world into the next century,” he declared the same month.

-Jim Web, former Secretary of the Navy under Ronald Reagan, Democratic senator from Viginia, and potential vice-presidential candidate under the Obama ticket, for his part affirmed in the Washington Post that, “the question is not whether or not we must put an end to Saddam Hussein’s regime, but rather if the United States is ready to physically occupy the territories of the Middle East for the next 30-50 years.”

The several other American politicians that dared to stick their necks out at that time were Congressmen Ike Skelton a Democrat from Missouri; Nancy Pelosi the Speaker of the House; Congressmen Jon Sprat, a Democrat from South Carolina, and Senator Russ Feingold from Wisconsin.

One can bet that [the aforementioned people] have good odds to occupy senior posts in a future Obama administration. That is if he is elected.


Rares furent les hommes politiques américains qui dénoncèrent publiquement, fin 2002,le projet d'invasion de l'Irak par George W. Bush. Il faut dire qu'à l'époque, assez cMaisonblancheurieusement, 60% des Américains se disaient certains que Saddam Hussein était l'instigateur des attentats du 11 septembre 2001...

Aujourd'hui, trois de ces Cassandre sont sur le point d'occuper de hautes fonctions dans la future Maison Blanche:
-Barack Obama, le candidat à la présidence du parti démocrate. Il avait déclaré en septembre 2002 à propos de l'Irak: "je ne suis pas opposé à toutes les guerres, mais je suis opposé aux guerres idiotes"
-Al Gore, l'ancien vice-président et Prix Nobel, qui vient de déclarer son soutien à Obama. "Cette voie inquiétante que l'on s'apprête à emprunter en Irak, peut potentiellement endommager sérieusement notre capacité à gagner la guerre contre le terrorisme,et affaiblir notre capacité à conduire le monde dans ce nouveau siècle", avait-il déclaré le même mois.
-Jim Webb, ancien secrétaire à la Navy de Ronald Reagan, sénateur démocrate de Virginie, possible co-listier pour la vice-présidence du "ticket" Obama, affirmait pour sa part dans le Washington Post que "la question n'est pas de savoir si on doit mettre un terme au régime de Saddam Hussein, mais plutôt si les Etats-Unis sont prêts à occuper physiquement des territoires du Moyen Orient pendant 30 à 50 ans".

Les quelques autres politiciens américains qui ont osé se mouiller à l'époque furent le représentant démocrate du Missouri Ike Skelton; l'actuelle "speaker" de la Chambre des représentants Nancy Pelosi; le représentant démocrate de Caroline du Sud John Sprat, et le sénateur démocrate du Wisconsin Russ Feingold.

On peut parier que tous ont de bonnes chances d'occuper des postes élevés dans une future administration Obama - si celui-ci est élu.
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