Why Did We Go Into Iraq? Van Taylor Says ‘Ask Historians’

The Republican’s only Iraq War vet running for Congress didn’t do too great of a job handling Chris Matthews (or Paul Hackett, for that matter) on Hardball last night.

Van Taylor (R-West), who is running against Congressman Chet Edwards (D-Waco) to represent a congressional district that includes President Bush’s Crawford ranch, seemed to have trouble with questions about why America is in Iraq and al Quaeda.

Here are some great snippits from the transcript:

MATTHEWS: Let me start with you, Mr. Taylor. Thank you very much for joining us. Do you think we are right to be in Iraq?
VAN TAYLOR (R-TX), CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: We need to stay in Iraq until we get the job done there. We have got to defeat al Qaeda terrorists that are trying to take over the country of Iraq and use it as a launching pad to conduct terrorist attacks in the region and possibly even on the United States.
MATTHEWS: And where did al Qaeda come from?
TAYLOR: Al Qaeda is an amorphous organization.
MATTHEWS: No no, the people that are fighting it that you say are threatening us in Iraq, where did they come
from?
TAYLOR: Al Qaeda made a conscious, tactical decision to do battle with the United States in Iraq and we have responded and fought them there. We need to fight them there because if we don`t fight them there, we are going to fight them here at home.
MATTHEWS: So they came in since we went in?
TAYLOR: There is no question. I mean, they made a decision in the summer of 2003 to come into Iraq and launch an attack against the United States forces.
MATTHEWS: So there wouldn`t have been an al Qaeda component of the size there is — there wouldn`t have been
that threat if we hadn`t gone in in the first place.
TAYLOR: Well al Qaeda could choose to do battle with us somewhere else, possibly in Europe or even in the
United States. So clearly fighting in Iraq meant that they didn`t fight us somewhere else.
MATTHEWS: So the people that are killing 3,000 people a month in Iraq are al Qaeda, you are saying? All the
deaths we are seeing on television is caused by al Qaeda? That’s against all the reporting we are getting. That`s why I’m raising this sir. I don`t get any reporting saying those people are being getting killed by al Qaeda — 3,000, 100 people a day are getting in that war between the Shia and the Sunni and I just wonder why you keep bringing in al Qaeda, which is by every estimate of every military man, is an isolated five percent maybe of the action over there.
TAYLOR: We need to be in Iraq because of al Qaeda and we cannot leave Iraq until al Qaeda is eradicated from
that country.
MATTHEWS: Well those are talking points. Where do they fit into the fact that 3,000 a month are being killed over there? Who is killing those people that we are watching on television every night. Is that al Qaeda doing that?
TAYLOR: Al Qaeda is trying to foment a civil war in Iraq and we need to stop them from doing that. We need to
make sure that Iraq is a stable democracy.
MATTHEWS: OK, what percentage being killed over there are being killed by al Qaeda, as you say? Every day on
the headlines? Who is doing all the killing?
TAYLOR: You are asking two different questions.
MATTHEWS: No, I`m asking one question, sir. What is the role of al Qaeda? You brought it up. What`s the role of
al Qaeda in Iraq? I`m just asking.
TAYLOR: Al Qaeda is trying to foment an insurgency in Iraq. We have got to secure our country against terrorists
and they are attacking us right now, U.S. forces are risking their lives fighting al Qaeda terrorists that seek to destroy
our country and our way of life. We have got to do whatever it takes to finish the job in Iraq and make sure that we give
a secure country to our children.

Still more, some of the best, in fact:

MATTHEWS: OK, let me ask you the question. Mr. Taylor, the president of the United States held a press conference yesterday and he was asked what role did Iraq play on the al Qaeda attack on us on 9/11? He said nothing, no role. You say something different it sounds like.
TAYLOR: Today, in Iraq al Qaeda …
MATTHEWS: No, he said they had nothing — he said — no, he said they had nothing — do you agree with that,
with the president that they had nothing to do with the attack of 9/11?
TAYLOR: They had no direct involvement in the 9/11 attacks.
MATTHEWS: Well, what do you mean no direct? Answer the question. The president said no connection. What
connection do you draw?
TAYLOR: As far as I know, I do not believe they have any direct involvement with the attack on 9/11. I agree with
the president.
MATTHEWS: So why did we attack Iraq then? Why did we attack Iraq then?
TAYLOR: Regardless of why we may have started fighting, and I served as a marine …
MATTHEWS: I`m asking the question, why did we attack Iraq? Why did we go into Iraq?
TAYLOR: That`s not the question that we need answered.
MATTHEWS: It`s mine.
TAYLOR: It`s what do we do now?

MATTHEWS: What`s wrong with me asking the question? We are in a war. Pearl Harbor started World War II.
TAYLOR: That`s a question you can ask …
MATTHEWS: What start it? Why did we go into Iraq?
TAYLOR: That is a question you can ask historians, but today we need to send people to Washington who
understand the war on terror. There is not a single member of the United States Congress that has served in the war on
terror, and there are only two dozen combat veterans. I will be the very first. We need to send people like me in
Washington.
[...]

MATTHEWS: Well, give us that answer. Full answer now, take all your time. We have 90 seconds, please, go
ahead, Mr. Taylor.
TAYLOR: We need to grind down this insurgency, we need to destroy al Qaeda, wherever they may be.
HACKETT: Soundbite.

I also found it amusing how Chris Matthews dismissed Taylor when he tried to throw in his website soundbite:

MATTHEWS: Thank you down in Texas, you are racing against the incumbent Chet Edwards, right? And Paul
Hackett, you are not running for the Senate, OK?
HACKETT: Absolutely not. I`m running Hackett Law Offices. If you need a good lawyer, call me.
MATTHEWS: OK, thank you, sir. Coming up …
TAYLOR: And if you want to support a Iraq veteran running for Congress vantaylor.com.
MATTHEWS: I think we heard that. Thank you, sir, for joining us.

The video is also quite amusing. You can check it out here (wmv, quicktime).

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