System Failure, Please Reboot

[Originally published 4/27/2004]

The United States has a wonderful system of government that is laid out in its Constitution. The American system is comprised of very carefully designed checks and balances between the three branches of the government. Every authority granted one branch is balanced by checks given to other branches. This is a good system, but relies on one very simple assumption: the people in government do their jobs. When they do not, the balances built into the system fail to function. The United States has waged an ill-advised war in Iraq. Why? Because the members of Congress, both Democrat and Republican, failed to do their jobs. They abdicated their responsibility to the American people!

The war on Iraq was justified by the administration on the grounds that intelligence information incontrovertibly indicated Saddam Hussein's regime possessed large quantities of chemical and biological weapons, was on the verge of building a nuclear weapon, and had alliances with terrorist organizations like al Qaeda. According to the administration, the intelligence was fool-proof. (It was clearly Bush-proof, at least.)

In the US system of government, Congress has oversight responsibility on intelligence matters. Members of the House and Senate select committees on intelligence have access to much of the intelligence data the administration has. This means that several members of both houses of Congress had access to this supposedly solid intelligence. Yet no one raised an objection. The closest anyone came was Senator Joe Biden from Delaware who questioned the administration's interpretations. Not even his own party followed up on Biden's uncertainty. In fact, we now know that members of Congress did not even investigate the intelligence information! Instead, facing reelection, Congress meekly acquiesced to the administration and voted to authorize war.

We common folk have no access to the confidential intelligence data that was purported to justify the war. Nor should we have such access. We are therefore forced to rely on our elected officials to do their jobs. If there are questions about the interpretations of intelligence, we rely on the members of the oversight committees to open their mouths and say so. At the very least, we rely on them to actually look at the data. As members of Congress charged with oversight, they have an obligation to the nation that transcends political party and election-year posturing. They failed us!

I have longed admired Britain's Tony Blair. But you have to also admire Blair's cabinet officials who put their duty to the British people ahead of the Labor party and resigned from government in protest of what they realized was an unjustified war. Contrast this to US Secretary of State Colin Powell. According to Bob Woodward's recent book, Powell had many reservations about going to war. He even voiced these reservations to other members of the cabinet, and even the president. But when push came to shove, he backed down and followed the president's lead, arguing a case that now appears so ridiculous. And Powell is a former 4 star general in the Army who saw combat in Vietnam! He ought to know better!

We have to face facts, here. There was a bipartisan failure, verging on betrayal, by the US Congress to perform their duties. This failure allowed the president to wage an unjustified and ill-conceived war for which the United States will pay in various ways for years to come. Voters need to keep this in mind as the fall elections approach. This time, we should choose people in Congress and the White House who will actually do their jobs!