Rep. Jones, R-N.C., initial backer and later critic of Iraq War, dies

Walter B. Jones Jr., a North Carolina congressman who so enthusiastically supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq that he argued for the french fries and French toast served in House cafeterias to be called “freedom fries” and “freedom toast” — a jab at France for its opposition to the war — but who later underwent a dramatic change of heart and emerged as a prominent Republican critic of the war, died Sunday, on his 76th birthday.

His office confirmed the death in a statement. It had announced on Jan. 26 that the 13-term lawmaker had entered hospice care.

In 1994, amid the “Republican revolution” that swept the House, he joined the GOP and won a seat in a neighboring district that currently includes the Marine Corps’ Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point air station.