2006.11.01: November 1, 2006: Headlines: Figures: COS - Fiji: Politics: Congress: Westport-News : Woody Klein writes: I have become disillusioned with Shays because of his support of the war.
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2006.11.01: November 1, 2006: Headlines: Figures: COS - Fiji: Politics: Congress: Westport-News : Woody Klein writes: I have become disillusioned with Shays because of his support of the war.
Woody Klein writes: I have become disillusioned with Shays because of his support of the war.
Shays has glorified the war. When I asked him in an interview in his Stamford office in late 2005 who his hero was, he replied: "Churchill. You know why? Churchill because he was willing to lose an election for what he believed in." Last June 11, he said in the Hartford Courant: "I don't believe that this would even be a close election [for me] if it wasn't for Iraq. I accept that. If I lost over Iraq, I would be unhappy; but I would live with the knowledge that I've taken what I believe to be the right stand. The war in Iraq is a noble effort we can't afford to lose."
Woody Klein writes: I have become disillusioned with Shays because of his support of the war.
Out of the Woods -- Farrell vs. Shays: A Personal Retrospective
By Woody Klein
Article Launched:11/01/2006 09:59:28 AM EST
[Excerpt]
When Chris Shays and Diane Farrell were introduced by Rabbi Robert Orkand at Temple Israel in Westport last month at one of their debates, Orkand stated with a broad smile: "Not only are they both qualified but they are both nice people." He was right. That is at the heart of the dilemma facing many Westporters.
I first met Chris Shays waiting on a line outside of a Fine Arts Theatre on the Post Road in the summer of 1987 when he was campaigning in a special election to succeed Stewart McKinney, of Fairfield, who had died a few months earlier. We talked for a few minutes. I was impressed with his civility, his knowledge, his quiet demeanor and his willingness to answer questions. He got my vote and was elected on Aug. 18, 1987.
Since then, he has been re-elected every two years beginning in 1988 and has become a national political figure. He has managed to walk a tight rope between party loyalty and his maverick thinking, representing the voters in the 4th Congressional District. He is known as a man of integrity. This observer, for one, consistently supported him -- until 2004, when he became a hawk supporting President Bush's ill-advised, pre-emptive attack on Iraq that still continues to take the lives of brave American soldiers on a daily basis.
I have become disillusioned with Shays because of his support of the war. Farrell has put him on the defensive to the point where he has said some things entirely out of character, and he could not stop the Republican National Committee from inundating the mails with flyers depicting Farrell in an unflattering photo and distorting her record.
Shays has glorified the war. When I asked him in an interview in his Stamford office in late 2005 who his hero was, he replied: "Churchill. You know why? Churchill because he was willing to lose an election for what he believed in." Last June 11, he said in the Hartford Courant: "I don't believe that this would even be a close election [for me] if it wasn't for Iraq. I accept that. If I lost over Iraq, I would be unhappy; but I would live with the knowledge that I've taken what I believe to be the right stand. The war in Iraq is a noble effort we can't afford to lose."
In my wide-ranging interview late last year, Shays went into great detail to explain to me why he was so adamant about Iraq and why his conscience would not permit him to change his views, despite the fact that he was a conscientious objector in previous conflicts, and even though he was aware of the growing dissatisfaction of his constituents with the war. He told me: "We were getting hit all the time [referring to killing of 300 Marines in Beirut, the bombings in Saudi Arabia and at our African embassies, and the USS Cole, for example] and we were not waking up to it. I believe the world had contempt for us because we were allowing two-bit people to do things to us that they did. I think there is alternatively going to be significant respect for the fact that America finally said, 'Enough.' That's what I think."
I take Chris Shays at his word, although he has harshly criticized both Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney as being "arrogant" because of the conduct of the war. It was only recently, following his 14th visit to Iraq, that he modified his position to say the U.S. must negotiate firm time lines with them [the Iraqis] leading to the draw down of U.S. forces. "The Iraqis," he said, "need to know the U.S. will not be there forever."
However, during another debate with Farrell -- and much to the astonishment of many people -- he said: "In my judgment we should have gone in sooner, but not for weapons of mass destruction." Farrell's reply: "We have known for more than three years that Chris Shays has been one of the biggest supporters of President Bush's war of choice in Iraq, but now we learn just how much of a choice Chris would have made -- he wouldn't have even bothered with the flimsy excuse of weapons of mass destruction. He would have just attacked."
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Story Source: Westport-News
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Fiji; Politics; Congress
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