I did not vote in 2000 because Lieberman was on the VP ticket. 9/11 came along and things started to change fast. The hunt was on for the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Offers were made for the Taliban to surrender which fell on deaf ears and the war was on. When the news came about Iraq I could only respond with, “what?” Watching Colin Powell make his case in the UN raised my bullshit meter to about 10.

By 2004 I was already gun ho and didn’t want the USA to withdraw before they cleaned up the mess they created in Iraq. Yes, it was its very own mess under Saddam Hussein but, apples and oranges. I voted for Bush to end the war. Things finally started getting much better after Robert Gates replaced Donald Rumsfeld. I went on to vote for McCain in 2008.

Part of my support was fueled by the words of Christopher Hitchens much of which I still agree with to this day. A lot of people died, yes, but the Iraq War has given the Iraqi people an enormous gift now that it’s been freed from the shackles of Hussein’s dictatorship.

I have no apologies for voting for George W. Bush.