"We knew..."
Here's exactly what he said:
“We knew back then this war was a mistake,” Obama said at the Take Back America conference. “We knew back then that it was a dangerous diversion from the struggle against the terrorists who attacked us on September 11th. We knew back then that we could find ourselves in an occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. “
“So many of us knew this back then, even when it wasn’t popular to say so,” he added.
This, of course, is a jab at Sen. Clinton's oft repeated line, "if I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have voted for the way."
That line has always been troubling to me because I knew then. It seemed so obvious that the president was taking the country into a war of choice. It seemed transparent that they were presenting selective evidence to make their case. It seemed clear that they were being impatient when they tried to convince us that we were under an imminent threat.
I never read any classified CIA reports or received top secret briefings. I don't think I'm much smarter than the average bear. But I knew that the adminstration was determined to wage war, no matter what.
That's why it always strikes me as a bit disingenuous to hear politicians like Sen. Clinton say that they didn't know. Why not? Is your judgment worse than mine? Are you less smart than the average bear? Neither of those alternatives instills much confidence in you as the next commander in chief.
With all the signs, you still didn't know. I have to wonder... Why didn't you?
WE knew.
