moderate libertarian
01-07-2012, 12:45 PM
This remarkable news story from few weeks ago did not get much coverage in media, NC Congressman has written a letter of penance to family of every troop killed as his way of seeking God's forgiveness for his pro war vote in 2002.
War dead prompts letters of ‘penance’ from North Carolina rep
But until then, Jones approved, at least politically. He was among the majority in Congress who voted in October 2002 to authorize the use of force in Iraq.
However, he now maintains that the Iraq invasion was pursued under the guise of deceit, fed by misinformation and the manipulation of intelligence by key leaders of the Bush administration. He also sees no need for U.S. troops to remain in Afghanistan because al-Qaida’s Osama bin Laden was killed in May.
Bush and key members of his administration have denied repeatedly that intelligence was manipulated or manufactured to support the cause of war. They have said to the best of their knowledge the information gathered indicated that weapons of mass destruction had been built and warehoused throughout Iraq.
Jones has been among Congress’ most vocal critics of the wars. He has teamed with Jim McGovern, D-Mass., liberal Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and conservative Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, in introducing legislation calling for the pull out of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. His position has cost him standing with fellow Republicans, having been passed over for a leadership position on key subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee.
Jones, 68, said he’s at peace with his stance and how his life has unfolded over the past eight years.
He also said he’s trying to make amends for his vote through a self-imposed penance: writing to the families of each and every soldier killed in those two far-off conflicts.
By his count, Jones has signed more than 10,400 letters — and counting — to the families of the approximately 5,500 military personnel who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan since late 2003.
“This was my way to say to God, ‘Forgive me for not trusting you,’” he said.A member of St. Elizabeth Parish in Farmville, Jones admits that political considerations and an eye toward re-election won out over concerns that the Bush administration was not telling the whole story to Congress and the American people.
“I just didn’t believe it,” he explained of the Bush administration’s reasoning for going to war. “I’ve always said I should have trusted God and voted my conscience. … But knowing that I don’t have a military background and all those retired military veterans in the third (congressional) district, the three military bases, most of the veterans in my district were buying what was being said.”
It wasn’t long before Jones had misgivings about his vote. He said he realized his vote helped send innocent men and women to their deaths for a dubious cause.
It took the funeral of a 31-year-old Marine Sgt. Michael Bitz, killed four days after the invasion began, to get Jones to act. At the funeral at Camp Lejeune Jones on a warm day in April 2003, he met Bitz’s family, including wife Janina, sons Christian, 7, and Joshua, 2, and twins, a boy and a girl, born one month after he was dispatched to the Persian Gulf. Janina read Michael’s last letter to her, written the day before he died in a gunfight.
http://www.catholicfreepress.org/national/2011/10/28/war-dead-prompts-letters-of-penance-from-north-carolina-rep/#
War dead prompts letters of ‘penance’ from North Carolina rep
But until then, Jones approved, at least politically. He was among the majority in Congress who voted in October 2002 to authorize the use of force in Iraq.
However, he now maintains that the Iraq invasion was pursued under the guise of deceit, fed by misinformation and the manipulation of intelligence by key leaders of the Bush administration. He also sees no need for U.S. troops to remain in Afghanistan because al-Qaida’s Osama bin Laden was killed in May.
Bush and key members of his administration have denied repeatedly that intelligence was manipulated or manufactured to support the cause of war. They have said to the best of their knowledge the information gathered indicated that weapons of mass destruction had been built and warehoused throughout Iraq.
Jones has been among Congress’ most vocal critics of the wars. He has teamed with Jim McGovern, D-Mass., liberal Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and conservative Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, in introducing legislation calling for the pull out of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. His position has cost him standing with fellow Republicans, having been passed over for a leadership position on key subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee.
Jones, 68, said he’s at peace with his stance and how his life has unfolded over the past eight years.
He also said he’s trying to make amends for his vote through a self-imposed penance: writing to the families of each and every soldier killed in those two far-off conflicts.
By his count, Jones has signed more than 10,400 letters — and counting — to the families of the approximately 5,500 military personnel who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan since late 2003.
“This was my way to say to God, ‘Forgive me for not trusting you,’” he said.A member of St. Elizabeth Parish in Farmville, Jones admits that political considerations and an eye toward re-election won out over concerns that the Bush administration was not telling the whole story to Congress and the American people.
“I just didn’t believe it,” he explained of the Bush administration’s reasoning for going to war. “I’ve always said I should have trusted God and voted my conscience. … But knowing that I don’t have a military background and all those retired military veterans in the third (congressional) district, the three military bases, most of the veterans in my district were buying what was being said.”
It wasn’t long before Jones had misgivings about his vote. He said he realized his vote helped send innocent men and women to their deaths for a dubious cause.
It took the funeral of a 31-year-old Marine Sgt. Michael Bitz, killed four days after the invasion began, to get Jones to act. At the funeral at Camp Lejeune Jones on a warm day in April 2003, he met Bitz’s family, including wife Janina, sons Christian, 7, and Joshua, 2, and twins, a boy and a girl, born one month after he was dispatched to the Persian Gulf. Janina read Michael’s last letter to her, written the day before he died in a gunfight.
http://www.catholicfreepress.org/national/2011/10/28/war-dead-prompts-letters-of-penance-from-north-carolina-rep/#