In early 2003, Iraq War fever was sweeping the nation. Saddam Hussein’s intransigence in preventing inspections of forbidden weapons sites had driven a bipartisan group of 296 House members and 77 senators to vote for war.
And those lawmakers were very much in touch with their constituents’ wishes. Depending on the poll cited, between 60 and 70 percent of Americans backed an invasion.
But there were obstacles to war, the greatest of which was France. Then-President Jacques Chirac and Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin made clear in January 2003 that they would do what they could to prevent the war. Most importantly, Villepin said France would use its veto power in the U.N. Security Council to block any U.N. support for the conflict. This warning meant that even as President George W. Bush was framing the conflict as a fight to uphold U.N. authority in Iraq, the U.N. would never vote to support it.
This upset a Beaufort, N.C., restaurateur named Neal Rowland. He responded to this French gesture with one of his own: In keeping with a long American wartime tradition, he announced that he would be renaming the “French fries” on his menu.
Rowland’s action inspired his congressman, Rep. Walter Jones, a Republican and an outspoken supporter of the war with Iraq. One week before the first wave of “shock-and-awe” bombings had begun, Jones persuaded House Administration Chairman Bob Ney, R-Ohio, to make the same change to the menu in all three cafeterias in the House.
“Whenever anyone orders freedom fries, I hope they will think about our men and women who are serving in this great nation,” Jones said at the time.
Jones’ passion for honoring the military never waned. Until his death on Sunday, his office kept and curated a wall of honor with photos of the hundreds of Marines who had fallen in the War on Terror after serving at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune. But Jones’s support for the Iraq War did not last very long. By June 2005, more than a year before “freedom fries” were stricken from congressional menus, he was already calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. “If I had known then what I know now, I wouldn’t have supported the [war] resolution,” he said.
There is no zeal like that of the recently converted. Jones deeply regretted having voted for war. He often spoke as if he felt personally responsible for the deaths that resulted.
Often the media discuss political polarization as if the problem were that politicians, and specifically conservative politicians, have principles. But that’s not the problem. The problem arises when those same politicians refuse to admit they are wrong, even long after it is painfully obvious.
In his life, Jones kept an open mind. He could not have always been right, but he always followed what he believed to be the best evidence he had at the time. He switched from Democrat to Republican, from Iraq War supporter to outspoken opponent.
May we all be so willing to change “sides” or “teams” or “tribes” in the interest of principle. And may he rest in peace.
