Against the Tide, by Lincoln Chafee: on War & Peace

Barbara Lee: Post-9-11, only Representative to vote against Afghan war

George W. Bush: 2002: First president to support Palestinian state

The president unveiled his Israeli-Arab peace plan in 2002. He pledged that America would support founding a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the "disputed territories" that Israel had occupied since the end of the 6-Day War in 1967.

But the new Palestinian nation was not to be. As in Iraq, the president would make matters worse in the West Bank & Gaza, not better. Over the next 5 years, his actions on the peace process--importantly, his very INACTION--seemed designed to ensure that the Palestinians would not achieve a homeland in the occupied territories.

Some may be credulous enough to believe the president sincerely worked for peace between Israel and the Palestinians; but the only people rejoicing in his policy are the leaders of Hamas and a minority of Israeli clashists.

Gordon Harold Smith: 2006: Withdrew support for Iraq War

Some Republicans, driven by both politics and conscience, started to rebel. Senator Gordon Smith of Oregon withdrew his support for President Bush's Iraq war.

On the Senate floor, he said "I, for one, am at the end of my rope when it comes to supporting a policy that has our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way, being blown up by the same bombs, day after day. That is absurd. It may even be criminal." But the defections were too few. Lawmakers continued to "support the troops" by writing the president a blank check.

Howard Dean: 2003: Rivals for nomination all voted to authorize Iraq war

Lincoln Chafee: Deny future Bin Ladens recruitment propaganda tools

1. American military bases the holy sites of Mecca and Medina, in his native Saudi Arabia;
2. the plight of the Palestinians under Israeli occupation in Gaza and the West Bank;
3. and the misery of the Iraqi people living under UN sanctions.

Lincoln Chafee: 2002: War authorization just ratchets up the hatred

On October 9, roughly 36 hours before the vote, I went to the Senate floor to say that the war authorization would serve those who believe in "ratcheting up the hatred."

In the end, even a majority of Senate Democrats voted for war. Only 23 senators voted to check a reckless president. I was the lone Republican among them.

Lincoln Chafee: Only Republican vote against Iraq War

Like every American, I looked at the facts and reached my own conclusion on whether Pres. Bush and V.P. Cheney knew, before they ordered our troops into Iraq, that Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction. Behind the scenes, I think, key figures in the administration had a variety of reasons for wanting to topple the dictator. But none were willing to suggest to the American people that their sons and daughters should fight and die for any of these reasons. Instead, the White House marketed the war on chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons and the threat of "the smoking gun that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud."

Max Cleland: 2003: Resigned 9-11 Commission over lack of Bush cooperation

"They had a plan to go to war," he said, "and when 9-11 happened that's why they did." The commission, underfunded and faced with an arbitrary deadline for reporting to the American people, lumbered on .