For one day, Joe Knollenberg was right about the “War on Terror”.

“Make no mistake, these attacks were an act of war. All of us stand firmly behind the President in his efforts to identify and punish the perpetrators of these evil deeds. No one will rest until justice is done on those who committed these heinous crimes and on those who provided aid and comfort to those criminals.” - Rep. Joe Knollenberg, Sept. 12, 2001.

Sadly, like the President, Joe Knollenberg didn’t follow through on his tough talk.

A year after 9/11, when President Bush was lying to the American people about Saddam Hussein, Knollenberg was right on board.

“The Iraqi regime, controlled by Saddam Hussein, remains a threat to the Iraqi people, Iraq’s neighbors, the U.S., our allies, and American citizens. Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction at his disposal, biological and chemical; and he has used them, as we all know, on his own people and against other countries. He has continuously expressed hostility toward and a willingness to attack the United States. In fact, he was the only world leader to publicly applaud the horrific September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America. Members of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization are known to be in Iraq . These facts simply cannot be ignored, and we cannot afford to wait while further terrorist attacks against the United States are being planned.” - Rep. Joe Knollenberg, Oct. 13, 2002.

In 2005, as Americans realized that we had made a terrible mistake, Joe Knollenberg didn’t have the courage to see the truth.

“In the past few months, we have seen an extraordinary progress in Iraq and in the Middle East at large.” Rep. Joe Knollenberg, March 15, 2005.

“The effort in Iraq is moving along steadily, and our forces are working in conjunction with Iraqi forces toward success in many different areas.” Rep. Joe Knollenberg, Nov. 3, 2005.

In the summer of 2006, long after it became obvious that Iraq was a disaster, George W. Bush and Joe Knollenberg continued their attempts at scaring the American people into believing that it was our safety at stake, not oil profits.

“I want to convey a very simple message. We must stay the course. At this crucial point in our history, it is unacceptable to enact a policy of passivity, resignation or defeatism in the face of terror. Some say that we should surrender and pull out. They may think that this will win them votes and that it is good politics, but it is terrible policy, devastating policy. It is essential that we continue to fight in Iraq so that the fight does not come into our backyards. Make no mistake, we do not choose Iraq as a front line on the war on terror. Al Qaeda has done that. But we must have that fight over there so we don’t have it back here. ” - Rep. Joe Knollenberg, June 15, 2006.

In 2007, the President wanted a surge. Guess who was right on board?

“Mr. Speaker, I have offered my conditional support for the President’s plan for additional troops in Iraq. My support is conditional, not carte blanche. I want to see the benchmarks met and progress made within the next 90 to 120 days. It is time for the Iraqis to step up to the plate and assume responsibility for the security of their nation.” - Rep. Joe Knollenberg, February 15, 2007.

Now, to give Congressman Knollenberg credit, he did put an expiration date on his patience. If the benchmarks weren’t met by mid-June, he would no longer support the surge.

Right?

Maybe not.

On July 12, almost a month after his own deadline had expired and without a single benchmark met, Joe Knollenberg voted against H.R. 2956. He voted against bringing home our troops, and voted for George W. Bush’s failed war.

How much longer will Joe Knollenberg help George W. Bush trade the blood of American soldiers and innocent Iraqis for bigger oil profits?