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Wayne Besen
PO Box 25491
Brooklyn, NY 11202
The Senate on Thursday roundly rejected two Democratic proposals to begin pulling troops out of Iraq, as Republicans and Democrats staked out starkly different positions heading into Congressional elections this fall.
The Republicans think they have a victory, but it is going to backfire. Things are not getting better in Iraq. We are stuck in a quagmire. More American soldiers are going to die because of this stupid war. The GOP will pay on dearly on election day.
Bush and conservatives in Congress grabbed the hand of the Democrats and jumped down a deep well. Responsible for getting stuck at the bottom of this murky pit, Republicans now look at Democrats and ask, "So, what's your plan to get us out of this?" Give me a break!
Unfortunately, too many Democrats are playing along with this deadly game, while the lives of young men and women remain at risk.
15 Comments:
It's another karlrovian ploy to make democrats either "support the war and the troops" or "be on the side of the terrorists". Hopefully the american electorate wont be so DUMB as to fall for this bullshit AGAIN!
posted by Anonymous, at
6/23/2006 12:20 AM
Sadly, I am not hopeful for the fall elections. With Rove back on the prowl and Democrats as a whole lacking a unified message, it won't surprise me to see the Republicans in control of everything again. I wish the Democrats would find a spine, and dare to support things like gay marriage, women's rights, healthcare, etc.
Granted, it's encouraging to see people like Russ Feingold, Eliot Spitzer and a handful of others come out in favor of equal rights, etc. But the fact that Howard Dean appears on the 700 Club or that Hillary Clinton accepts financial support from Rupert Murdoch...these are troubling realities.
It's high time for the Democrats as a whole to reclaim what they "claim" to stand for, instead of whining and offering no concrete solutions to problems/issues.
Take a risk, people. Inspire us. STAND for something! Dare to be different, bold, unique!
posted by Anonymous, at
6/23/2006 1:33 PM
The Chicago Tribune had an editorial on this issue today backing the Rebublican move (no surprise...) here is my letter to them on this issue - and one way to turn this on their heads...
"The Tribune editorial "No deadline, no retreat" echo’s the false choice Republicans set up. There is no question that we will have to ensure victory of the Bush administration's war. The question is one of accountability - and Republicans aren't having any part of it. Instead they want a continued "stay the course" bloody blank check. Achievements do not come out of bottomless pits - they come with clear goals and timelines. Deadlines reinforce and motivate our government and the Iraqis. Goals without deadlines become worthless because it muddies and absolves responsibility. And the Republicans are trying to avoid all the responsibility they can. This choice is false because [the goal of] winning is a foregone conclusion. But so is limiting the loss of our boys. The question is how. Neither of these goals discredits deadlines. Deadline: to have percentages of Iraqi units trained. Deadline: to have percentages of Iraqis fully deployed. Deadline: to have our forces redeployed to other duties within [and] out of Iraq. And the ultimate deadline: welcoming home all of our troops. It is a matter of how to achieve, not a matter of "cut and run". But we cannot achieve without the accountability of deadlines. In fact the only cut and runners are Republicans - they are running from their responsibility to put forth a workable plan to finish the mess they started; after all they are in full control of our government." Sean in Phily
posted by Anonymous, at
6/23/2006 2:13 PM
While I would like to see us win too, the fact remains that the war is unwinnable--unless we resort to full-blown Saddam-style tactics such as razing one city after another, instead of just the occasional Falujah or Haditha. Then we might eventually be able to impose a Carthaginian peace on what is left of the country.
Short of this, we will probably end up evacuating to isolated bases in a de facto Kurdistan, where we would be welcome and secure. The rest of the country will go to hell. Maybe the predominently Shi'a areas in the south of the country can succeed in forming a theocratic and pro-Iranian government, but the mostly Sunni Arab middle of the country--including Baghdad--will probably collapse into Somalia-type anarchy with various warlords of various faiths and ethnicities duking it out. The resulting ethnic cleansing, as each region performs housecleaning, will probably make the refugee flows resulting from India's partitioning in 1947 look like a family camping trip.
Sorry to sound like Eeyore, but when people like the former NSA chief Gen. William Odom, and Israeli military historian Martin Van Creveld--the most eminent military historian alive--call for an immediate pullout, I am inclined to take them at their word. The Democrats must repeat out loud, again, and again, and again: "Bush lost the war!"
Aristotle described anarchy as the rule of a thousand despots. Are the Iraqis supposed to be grateful to us for trading one for a thousand?
posted by Anonymous, at
6/23/2006 3:33 PM
Anyone remember the scene with the Black Knight in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"?
When the tall and fearsome Black Knight blocks the road, growling "None shall pass!", Lancelot first cuts off one of his arms, then the other. The Black Knight kicks Lancelot and then has a leg sliced off. Finally, the Knight continues to taunt Lancelot while hopping on one leg, so Lancelot cuts it off! The scene ends with this torso sitting in the road screaming "Quitter!", "Coward!" and so on at Lancelot as he recedes down the road.
Too bad real people will have to die for the sake of Karl Rove's political strategy.
posted by Anonymous, at
6/23/2006 4:29 PM
I think the Democrats and the Republicans have taken a gamble. They are both betting on the state of the war in Iraq in the last week in October.
I'm not sure who took the better bet.
The was is very unpopular at the moment and shackling your wagon to a falling star may not have been wise for Republicans.
However, unusual things happen in the world during election season. We may capture Osama Bin Ladin on October 28. Then suddenly we'd be "winning" and Bush would look like a war hero.
And lest anyone forget, the military leadership has a vested interest in having Republicans in power. I know it sound cynical and almost paranoid, but if Bush/military had a choice between great news in Iraq today and great news closer to the election, I can guess what they'd choose.
Then again, it would take something at least of that magnitude to change the country's views on the war and the Republicans between now and then. And I have low expectations from this President and his administration.
I don't know that the military leadership have any stake now in the Republican's clinging to power.
So far, they've seen their soldier's lives wasted on a fool's errand, their equipment not up to the task 'til recently (remember'hillbilly armor' on Humvee's and parent's buying mylar body armor for their kids?)
Finally their expertise was ignored and they were scorned. (Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shineski was fired before the invasion for saying that we would need far more troops than we were preparing to deploy.) They don't owe the Republicans a thing.
posted by Anonymous, at
6/23/2006 7:26 PM
