In March of 2003, just prior to the invasion of Iraq, I made a final plea to the administration and my colleagues in Congress to avert a war that I believed would reap sorrowful consequences for our nation. In a speech entitled "We Stand Passively Mute", I expressed my outrage at the fact that the United States Senate -- the world's greatest deliberative body -- stood "for the most part-silent-ominously, dreadfully silent" on this monumental question.

Sadly, my worst fears have been realized. The decision to invade Iraq may go down as one of the gravest foreign policy blunders in our nation's history.

Yet the war continues. American troop levels are higher than they were the day President Bush flamboyantly swooped onto the deck of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln to declare "Mission Accomplished."

Four thousand Americans have now lost their lives, including twenty-three brave West Virginians. Almost thirty-thousand Americans have been wounded in action, many gravely, and c

Thanks for reminding us, David, of Sen. Byrd and his commitment to stopping this insane war. I have a lot of admiration for the Ol' Byrd, quirks and all. He's got HIS mind right--now where is the rest of our "leadership" in Congress? Still funding the war at every request... Still no impeachment hearings, even in the wake of the obvious disdain and arrogance of both Cheney and Dubya. Will they ever be brought to Justice?