Gary Hart:
If the United States is prepared to go it alone, if we expect serious casualties, if we have a plan for a prolonged occupation and if the cost of the entire operation is considerable and continuing, the American people deserve to be told.

That is why the Constitution leaves to Congress -- the collective representatives of the people -- the sole authority to declare war. The U.S. armed forces belong to the people, not the president. For the people to support the deployment of their Army, they must understand what is at stake and why. Otherwise, vague polling data about "supporting the president" can disappear overnight with the sight of body bags returning home.

Gary Hart:
A second set of urgent questions has received even less attention. They can be stated simply: Are we ready for the virtually certain retaliatory terrorist attacks on our homeland if we invade Iraq? The evidence suggests that we are not. Those attacks would not necessarily come from Iraq or Iraqi interests; they could come from elsewhere in the fundamentalist Islamic world, or even from outside it. But a major U.S. invasion of a Muslim country would almost certainly trigger serious attempts to kill Americans. (emphasis mine. Eb)

And also Gary Hart:
Prudent leadership would say to the American people, "We will go to war in a dangerous part of the world only when we know what we are doing and what our plans are, only when we are prepared for the consequences here at home and only when our nation is united -- public and private sectors -- to conduct this war to a successful conclusion."

"We predicted it," former Senator Gary Hart said on Sept. 12, 2001. "We said Americans will likely die on American soil, possibly in large numbers -- that's a quote from the fall of 1999." (Actually, December 6, 1999. Ebbie) The quote comes from the Phase One Report of the U.S. Commission on National Security for the 21st Century, which was co-chaired by Hart and former Sen. Warren Rudman, R-NH,. But, before 9/11, no one seemed to much care about their conclusions. During our Sept. 12 conversation, Hart said he was "tearing (his) hair out" in frustration.

He still has criticisms and strong ideas as to how he would handle things differently. "Within a week after 9/11," Hart said Wednesday. "I would have begun a search for a new CIA director... It's important to say, if you're running a big institution -- and that institution suffers a serious deficiency -- that you will be held accountable. But if nobody is sacrificed for a failure then nobody is accountable. "

He also has harsh comments about the FBI's anachronistic worldview. "The ghost of J. Edgar Hoover is still in that damn [FBI] building!" Hart says. "They need to clean it out and start all over again."

Hardly the words of a traitorous conspirator. I don't know where you got your opinions, GUEST, but they don't seem backed up by facts.

And keep in mind, - Denver is Hart's hometown.