Piety & Power, by Tom LoBianco: on War & Peace

Mike Pence: 2001: Saddam Hussein is a threat to our national security

Shortly before the House was set to vote on whether to authorize Bush to send troops to Iraq, Pence threw his support behind Bush. "I grieve at the thought of the United States at war and am not anxious to see it." Pence said. But Saddam Hussein is a threat to national security and to world security." Democrats and Republicans overwhelmingly banded together in the House and Senate to give Bush the power to declare war on Iraq. On March 20, 2003 the US invaded Iraq, just 18 months after the September 11 terrorist attacks, and shunted the effort in Afghanistan aside. And Mike Pence, like the rest of Washington, was 100 percent on board.