It seems Rick Larsen is busy doing his job as a Congressman.
20-year-old Iraq weapons spark debate
In House hearing, lawmakers argue over whether they are WMD and justify war
Walter Pincus, Washington Post
Saturday, July 1, 2006
(07-01) 04:00 PDT Washington -- Do the 20-year-old Iraqi chemical munitions found by U.S. and coalition forces support the prewar contention that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, and justify the invasion of Iraq?
That question divided Republicans and Democrats again this week, this time at a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee on the estimated 500 rockets and artillery shells containing degraded mustard gas or sarin nerve agent. ...
... Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., recalled the administration's prewar rhetoric, including a remark by then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice that "we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud," that helped push Congress' October 2002 vote to authorize the use of force in Iraq.
That kind of language, Larsen said, "always has seemed to be much bigger than the facts that we end up reviewing in retrospect."
The smoking gun and mushroom cloud image, he said, "sounds a lot better than 500 artillery shells of various amounts of degraded material that fit the technical definition of chemical weapons ... buried in various bunkers in various states of disrepair that we are not even sure Saddam Hussein knew about." (full article)
And when he travels it's not to play golf in Scotland.
U.S. Congress majority leader John Boehner, center, speaks beside deputy speaker of the Iraqi Parliament Khalid al-Attiyah, third left, during a news conference with other visiting U.S. Representatives at the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Monday July 3, 2006. U.S. Representatives, left to right, Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan, Rick Larsen of Washington, Khalid al-Attiyah, majority leader John Boehner, Devin Nunes of California, Jim Saxton of New Jersey, and Jim Ryun of Kansas. (AP Photo/Ceerwan Aziz, Pool) (Ceerwan Aziz - AP)
Iraq improving, Larsen says after trip to war-torn nation
JON GAMBRELL
THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
While Iraq remains violent three years after the United States invaded the country, security continues to improve, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen said after a trip to the nation.
Speaking in a telephone conference from Rota, Spain, this morning, Larsen said though his last trip was a "180 degree" turn from a previous one just after the fall of Saddam Hussein, things are improving.
"I can see progress being made compared to the second trip I had," said Larsen, D-Lake Stevens. "There continues to be progress but there is still a long way to go."
Larsen was the sole Democrat on a surprise congressional delegation organized by House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. The leaders flew to Jordan Saturday, seeing a joint operation to train Iraqi police officers. ... (full article)
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