Okay, let's wrap this up:

IF it turned out Saddam was involved in the attack on the US and/or he DID have WMDs, would you have supported the war?

Now, even if you didn't then?

Be honest.

1/

No?

Then you're opposed to war on principle. Nothing wrong with that, but it makes the intel irrelevant. Doesn't matter if Bush lied or not.

Ergo, for you nothing excuses Joe Biden.

Warmonger. That's essentially Trump's argument -- though I doubt it's from principle.

2/

If it does change your mind, if it had turned out Bush et al were right and Saddam WAS a threat to the US, then Biden was right to support the war. Not a warmonger, just pragmatic. A patriot. Maybe not reluctantly enough to suit your liberal sensibilities, but right anyway.

3/

Of course, Bush was wrong. They lied to us with malice aforethought.

You say you knew it all along and Biden should have too.

Maybe.

Maybe you did know. Really.

Maybe it really is just that simple. In a perfect world.

4/

But I was there, neck deep in it, right up front, and from where I sat it was a lot more complicated.

There were plenty of us in the Intelligence Community who questioned the things our leaders were saying. But you can't see everything -- by design.

5/

There's a point where you have to admit to yourself you don't know everything. We had no reason to distrust people like Colin Powell. Neither did Biden.

What? Oh, of course, YOU did. YOU knew.

Too bad you weren't there instead, I guess. Maybe things would be different.

6/

Saddam Hussein had WMDs once upon a time. He USED them. He murdered thousands of Iranians and tried to murder us in two different wars.

Sure, we couldn't find evidence he STILL had those weapons leading up to March 2004, but Bush gambled that we'd find them eventually.

7/

So, they cooked the intel, changed the validity indicators from "probable" and "possible" to "Absolutely goddamned for sure" and threw out anything that conflicted with the narrative on the gamble that they'd be justified in the end and nobody who mattered would care.

8/

Ends justify the means and all that.

If the WMDs were there, those of you whose minds could be changed wouldn't be opposed anymore, right? You said so, up above.

Those of you opposed to war on principle could be safely ignored as you always are.

9/

So Bush gambled.

His DUTY was to gamble. To protect America. We'd been attacked on his watch, he didn't dare NOT gamble. Americans wanted to be safe.

Does that make it right?

History says no. But maybe you can understand his decision just a bit. Not agree, understand.

10/

And the odds WERE good.

Saddam was a brutal mass murdering tyrant with delusions of empire. Hell, even I figured we'd find gas at the very least, maybe biologicals. Maybe even a nuke program.

But sometimes you roll snake eyes.

11/

Bush guessed wrong. And that is on him. The buck stops at the president's desk.

You want to hold Biden accountable for his role in that terrible mistake? By all means. Biden should answer for his actions.

But he wasn't in charge. Bush was.

12/

You want to role in here and tell me Joe Biden is some slobbering Cheneyesque warmonger who is somehow no different from Bush and you just knew everything all along? Is that it? Because that's TRUMP's line, right there.

That's Trump.

13/

That's Trump: I was opposed to the war from the start. I knew more than the generals. I knew more than the Intelligence community. Joe Biden is a war monger. So, if you don't want no more Iraqs, vote for me.

That's the message Trump is pushing.

14/

So, before you roll up in here and tell me about something I was on the front lines for, maybe -- maybe -- take a hard look at the context of that time first.

And maybe look at who's pushing what narrative NOW -- and WHY.

15/

I'm not a Democrat. I'm not a liberal. I'm the very last person who would attempt to justify a shitty war based on lies -- and I've said so at length and on the record.

Biden isn't perfect. But he's what we've got.

And if that doesn't work for you, well, vote for Trump.

16/16