After the initial campaign against Iraq appeared to be successful and popular among the U.S. public, Joe Biden switched his position, walking back his past opposition. “I think I was proven to be wrong,” he said in 1993. Biden retrospectively attacked President George H.W. Bush for not going all the way and deposing Saddam Hussein when he had the opportunity, calling it a “fundamental mistake.” In later years, Biden became decidedly hawkish against the Iraqi regime and tried to walk back his prior opposition further.
Immediately following the war, Biden co-sponsored a resolution, titled “Commending the President and the Armed Forces for the success of Operation Desert Storm,” that said Congress “applauds” Bush and Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney. A year after the war, Biden also voted in favor of a resolution authorizing Bush to use continued military action against Iraq. At the time, Sen. Bob Dole, then the Republican minority leader, characterized it as “an anniversary present to Saddam Hussein.”
Only two senators, including Minnesota Democrat Paul Wellstone, voted against it. Wellstone, who said the resolution could open the way for anything from air attacks to a ground war, asked, “Why the rush? Why not continue to tighten the screws diplomatically and economically?” The resolution effectively ushered in an era of near-constant bombing of Iraq that would last for 30 years. It also represented a decisive moment of conversion for Biden from Iraq War skeptic to cheerleader for regime change and militarism against Iraq.
IT’S EVEN WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT.
What we’re seeing right now from Donald Trump is a full-on authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government.
This is not hyperbole.
Court orders are being ignored. MAGA loyalists have been put in charge of the military and federal law enforcement agencies. The Department of Government Efficiency has stripped Congress of its power of the purse. News outlets that challenge Trump have been banished or put under investigation.
Yet far too many are still covering Trump’s assault on democracy like politics as usual, with flattering headlines describing Trump as “unconventional,” “testing the boundaries,” and “aggressively flexing power.”
The Intercept has long covered authoritarian governments, billionaire oligarchs, and backsliding democracies around the world. We understand the challenge we face in Trump and the vital importance of press freedom in defending democracy.
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IT’S BEEN A DEVASTATING year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
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I’M BEN MUESSIG, The Intercept’s editor-in-chief. It’s been a devastating year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
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