**DONOTDELETE**
09-25-2002, 07:08 PM
http://www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2002/9/25/185335
Iraq Flashback: Dems Backed Clinton's Impeachment War
As Congressional Democrats escalate their attacks on President Bush based on the dubious proposition that he's willing to attack Iraq purely for political advantage in this November's election, it's easy to forget just how supportive they were when President Clinton actually did try to start a war with Saddam Hussein in hopes of quashing his own impeachment.
On Dec. 16, 1998 Clinton commenced airstrikes on Baghdad without warning. The surprise action prompted immediate calls from Democrats for a postponement of the House impeachment vote, then scheduled for Dec. 18, so the U.S. could present a united front in wartime.
In a move that woould give Clinton a blank check to postpone his impeachment for as long as he could keep the bombers flying, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt urged his colleagues, "We should not take up impeachment until the hostilities have ended. It shouldn't come up as long as our troops are in harm's way.''
"Make no mistake that despite domestic political differences in the United States, the American people and Congress stand firmly behind the defense of our nation's vital interests,'' then-Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle added, in a joint statement with Gephardt.
But some Republicans, at least initially, weren't buying it.
Iraq Flashback: Dems Backed Clinton's Impeachment War
As Congressional Democrats escalate their attacks on President Bush based on the dubious proposition that he's willing to attack Iraq purely for political advantage in this November's election, it's easy to forget just how supportive they were when President Clinton actually did try to start a war with Saddam Hussein in hopes of quashing his own impeachment.
On Dec. 16, 1998 Clinton commenced airstrikes on Baghdad without warning. The surprise action prompted immediate calls from Democrats for a postponement of the House impeachment vote, then scheduled for Dec. 18, so the U.S. could present a united front in wartime.
In a move that woould give Clinton a blank check to postpone his impeachment for as long as he could keep the bombers flying, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt urged his colleagues, "We should not take up impeachment until the hostilities have ended. It shouldn't come up as long as our troops are in harm's way.''
"Make no mistake that despite domestic political differences in the United States, the American people and Congress stand firmly behind the defense of our nation's vital interests,'' then-Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle added, in a joint statement with Gephardt.
But some Republicans, at least initially, weren't buying it.