Lynn C. Woolsey: “the White House is fast approaching a new low when it comes to smearing those of us who oppose the disastrous Iraq War.…”

“the White House is fast approaching a new low when it comes to smearing those of us who oppose the disastrous Iraq War. Before the Thanksgiving recess, Vice President Dick Cheney declared that suggesting the administration deceived the Nation to justify the Iraq invasion, and I quote him, ``is one of the most dishonest and reprehensible charges ever aired in this city.'' Well, first of all, being called ``dishonest'' by Dick Cheney is kind of like being told by Imelda Marcos that you have a shoe fetish. I thought it was ironic that the Vice President made these remarks at an event sponsored by a group called the Frontiers of Freedom. Asking hard questions and demanding answers from your government is one of the very foundations of freedom, but Dick Cheney seems to consider it borderline treason. Well, shame on him and shame on him for implying that criticism of this war amounts to criticism of the brave men and women in uniform who are on the front lines. The fact is there was exaggeration, manipulation, and down right deception in the run-up to the war. There is report after report of the Bush administration ignoring or downplaying serious misgivings in the intelligence community about the weapons of mass destruction case. It has been well confirmed that the Vice President himself visited CIA headquarters to lean on analysts and to make sure that they were reaching ``right'' conclusions.…”