Political posturing over Iraq
I am disturbed by Friday's U.S. House of Representatives vote in favor of a nonbinding resolution opposing President Bush's decision to send additional troops to Iraq.
Yes, the war is nationally unpopular. Yes, it's a mess and significant mistakes have been made. I also think the Bush administration used flimsy information about purported weapons of mass destruction and supposed links to al Qaida to convince the public and Congress to support the invasion of Iraq.
But the fact is that our soldiers are now in Iraq doing their duty for their country, and they need our support. This resolution was little more than political posturing that will do nothing to help the troops on the ground and may hurt them.
If someone, anyone, knows a way out of Iraq that also gives democracy a fighting chance there, let's hear it. The debate needs to continue. But quit playing politics.
posted by Patrick Rice @ 3:05 PM
11 Comments
11 Comments:
I don't know, I think the resolution has the potential to do some good, though nothing immediate. Say there's a congressman who's against the war, but doesn't think anything will pass. This allows him to show his opinion, without the hate a bill might bring. Then, if the resolutions vote is in his favor, he may be more willing to vote for a bill that might actually have some weight with it, without as much risk of public persecution. It's still politics, but I don't think it's just posturing.
The resolution in question serves no purpose but to undermine our effort, discourage our troops, and send a signal to our enemies that they can simply wait and the Democrats will slowly strangle this effort into a loss. The point here, for those who missed it, is to prevent any hope of a victory so as to damage Republican political chances in the next election. And, to ensure that the Democrats can create a loss with which to pound Republicans for decades to come.
The end result of what the Democrats are pulling with this resolution, and their now-public plan to slowly kill the Iraq war effort by the "death of a thousand cuts," is that Bin Laden, who predicted that the US didn't have the stomach to fight a protracted battle against terrorists, will be proven right. Read his 2001 fatwa against the US, and look at his reference to the strong horse, versus the weak horse. Bin Laden predicted that the craven political Left would undermine the war, just like the Left undermined the Vietnam War. He knew that the Democrats cared more about their own political power than the best interest of the country, and the thousands of US soldiers whose lives lie in the balance. Bin Laden knew what would happen, and the Democrats are proving him right.
All this discussion about Iraq’s connection to Al Qaeda, WMDs, and the like only serve the purpose of undermining public support for our mission and our troops. Saddam Hussein’s refusal to obey the conditions that ended the Gulf War was all the reason the US needed to invade Iraq…we needed nothing else.
Iraq was a stunning military victory, the likes of which have never been seen before…ever. Our military did an outstanding job, in doing the job they did. It’s when the politicians began to run the show that Iraq turned into a problem.
We had an opportunity to turn Iraq into a democratic nation that respected the rights of the minority. But the Left has been working to cut the legs out from our effort almost since the war began. Again and again our enemies have been given hope, by attacks on our troops from within our borders.
The Democrats have worked steadily to create the impression that the United States in the evil force in the Middle East. They redefined “torture” to now be little more than the standard fare of a fraternity “hell week.” They worked to provide Constitutional protections to enemy combatants who aren’t even provided protections under the Geneva Convention…the first time in US history that such “rights” have ever been bestowed on our enemy. Democrat politicians, like John Kerry, slandered our soldiers in Iraq, comparing our soldiers to terrorists, and saying that only academic failures end up fighting in our military.
The Democrats likened the Iraq situation to Vietnam from the very first weeks of the conflict, and rightfully so. Just like in Vietnam, the US never lost a major battle in Iraq and we had the enemy standing at the threshold of complete surrender. Just like in Vietnam, when General Giap and the North Vietnamese were about to surrender in 1991 (according to Giap’s own diary)…before the enemy started to pay attention to John Kerry and the American Left, and realized that by holding on patiently the Democrats would destroy the American will to fight. The American Left turned assured victory in Vietnam into America’s first defeat at war. And like Vietnam, the Left is about to gut the American war effort in Iraq, and cast the cloud of defeat over the United States and our military for another generation.
Why? Because America’s defeat in Vietnam spawned dozens of political careers for top Democrat Senators and Representatives in Congress. The American Left gained power by destroying the US war effort in Vietnam, and they intend on gaining power again, by destroying the US war effort in Iraq.
The main question for all national politicians to answer is. What would you do if 911 happened on your watch? The islamic terrorists have already told us that they want to kill us. No negotations or compromises.
War is politics-- why does any country go to war except to exert political influence over a country? I've just read Pat's opening post and the numbers of lines of anonymous comments here and have to laugh. The "politics" of Iraq is, unfortunately, in the factless "words" that are continually thrown around. Could "Anonymous" please present facts to back up any one of the statements written above? A quote for you all: "Democrats Are Fighting to Make Sure Our Troops are Fully Equipped. Democrats have sought to ensure that our troops were fully equipped for the war in Iraq. For example, because of Democratic efforts, the 2003 Iraqi supplemental included more funds for HUMVEEs, body armor, and jammers to prevent the detonation of explosive devises. Democrats offered amendments to shift $322 million from reconstruction to safety equipment for U.S. troops in Iraq (Sen. Dodd) and to shift $4.6 billion from Iraqi reconstruction to support and safety for our troops including critical funding for repairing and replacing the critical equipment for combat in Iraq (Rep. Obey).
http://democrats.senate.gov/agenda/real_security/record.cfm.
Read, get the facts straight, then let's discuss spin masters.
Well if 9-11 happened on my watch I'd definitly go after the mastermind behind the plan and not attack a nation that had nothing to do with 9-11! Remember,no one that planned 9-11 hailed from Iraq! So don't frighten me with threats of future terrorist attacks when you yourself are supporting a war with a nation that is at war with itself while our attackers are flying under the radar!
16 Feb 07: U.S. Rep. John Murtha, a leading congressional opponent of the war in Iraq, on Thursday said his plans for placing conditions on how President George W. Bush can spend $93.4 billion in new combat funds would effectively stop an American troop buildup.
Direct quote from Murtha:
“They won’t be able to continue. They won’t be able to do the deployment. They won’t have the equipment, they don’t have the training and they won’t be able to do the work. There’s no question in my mind,” the Pennsylvania Democrat said."
"Democrat politicians, like John Kerry, slandered our soldiers in Iraq, comparing our soldiers to terrorists, and saying that only academic failures end up fighting in our military."
Some facts, to satisfy "okdecchair's" curisoity...
Senator John Kerry, Oct 06: “You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”
John Kerry, 5 Dec 05: "And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women..."
Democrat Senator Durbin, June 14, 2005:
“If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans [soldiers] had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags or some mad regime — Pol Pot or others — that had no concern for human beings”
Iraqi election of 2004...the "purple finger" election...
Despite the fact that Iraqis braved the threat of terorist attacks at the polls to vote, and turned out in huge humbers...nearly twice the percentage of eligible voters as we see in a typical US national election...
"Meet the Press," Sen. John Kerry, questioned the legitimacy of the election, saying, "It's hard to say that something is legitimate when a whole portion of the country can't vote and doesn't vote."
I know a way out of Iraq, with our heads held high and a mark in the WIN column. Maybe the House should focus on their real job and not that of the Commander in Chief. If they want to be Commander, then they should run for President and get elected like Bush did. The House is setting a nasty precedence and future Presidents will now have to contend with this lunacy.
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