Lynn C. Woolsey: “when the President invaded Iraq in 2003, the American people were warned that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction posed a…”

“when the President invaded Iraq in 2003, the American people were warned that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction posed a great threat to peace. We were told that launching a preemptive war would not make life harder for the Iraqi people nor compromise the security of the international community. And we were promised that the quick war to liberate Iraq would come at no cost to America's prestige abroad. Five years later, it is painfully clear how very wrong the administration was and how dearly we are still paying for its mistakes. The administration launched a war of choice based on half truths, broken promises, and delusions of a swift and easy victory, but the most shameful of the administration's claims was that we were fighting abroad to protect our freedoms at home. The President argued that sending our Nation's brave servicemen and - women into an unwinnable occupation was the only way we would safeguard our civil liberties. Since then, by repeatedly invoking the possibility of threats to our national security right here at home and abroad, the administration has justified its unprecedented attack on our constitutionally protected freedoms.”