Herger parrots Bush’s lies

Even as Republicans like Nebraska’s Sen. Chuck Hagel begin to question the legitimacy of the Iraq War, our own Rep. Wally Herger, R-Chico, continues to repeat the official party line. Say it often enough and maybe people will begin to believe it, or so the mantra goes.

We caught Herger interviewed on local TV news over the weekend while he was attending a fund-raiser at the Chico Elk’s Lodge. Asked about Cindy Sheehan, a dead soldier’s grieving mother who’s started a nationwide protest of the Iraq War, Herger disappointingly, if not entirely surprisingly, dutifully linked the war in Iraq to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He said that while it is indeed painful to lose our soldiers in this battle, we must never forget the fact we lost nearly 3,000 citizens when New York was attacked four years ago. It’s the heavy price we have to pay, he told the TV reporter.

Wait a second, Mr. Congressman. The Iraqi-9/11 link was floated by the president as one of what turned into a number of fabricated excuses for invading Iraq. The connection has never been substantiated. If we really wanted to punish the country responsible for the Sept. 11 terrorists, we would have invaded Saudi Arabia, the nation that gave us Osama Bin Laden and most of the hijackers. Going into Iraq because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks is like punishing Puerto Rico for an invasion from Cuba.

Mr. Herger, defend the war, defend the president, defend the conservative agenda—but at least be honest about it. Your constituents, despite your uninterrupted string of re-elections dating back 20 years, are not idiots.