Posted on 07/18/2008 5:01:06 AM PDT by SJackson
Clinton Administration to Obama: Iraq Trumps Afghanistan |
The crucial facts in this caseabsent two years agoand which have been emphasized repeatedly in recent months by bibles of the left, from the New York Times to the Washington Post, is that the reconstruction effort in Iraq has improved tremendously under General Petraeus, to the point where we are not only winning in Iraq but, some say, we may have already won. Obamas speech is a troubling example of ignoring everything that has happened for the better over the last 18 months, suggestive instead of a defeated nation that needs to immediately hop on the last helicopter out of Saigon. Obama probably thinks this speech will win him points among the angry extremists that fortify his base (which it will), but it will hurt him among responsible, fair-minded liberals and especially among the moderates that will decide this election. It is a giant softball for John McCain and for the GOP to turn into ad spots. It plays right into John McCains chief strength and against Obamas chief liability: their divergent experience in foreign and security policy. It was a bad political move for a candidate who is ahead in the polls. There was so much in this speech that merits a response, but I would like to draw attention to its most fatal flaw, which apparently stills persists among the far left, which is actually where Barack Obamaranked the most liberal member of the Senate by the non-partisan National Journalsits on the ideological spectrum. In this speech, Obama argued that the true battle against terror has always been, and remains, in Afghanistan, not Iraq. He framed the Iraq intervention as a total distraction from the real War on Terror, which resides in Afghanistan. Yet again, this positively maddening assertion is being made by a leader of the American left. It is absolutely, unequivocally, a post-Iraq War invention. I plead with my liberal friends: If you dont believe me, then remember what the Clinton administration stated repeatedly: Throughout the latter 1990s, President Clintons State Department, headed by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, listed Iraq among the leading sponsors of terrorism. It did so officially in its Patterns of Global Terrorism report, which is the formal, annual assessment on global terrorism mandated by Congress beginning in 1979 with the passing of the Export Administration Act. The final such report by the Clinton administration, in 2000, highlighted the seven leading terrorist governments: Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Cuba, North Korea, and Sudan. Afghanistan was not even on the list. These were the same seven nations identified in previous years, with Iraq and Iran singled out as the worst offenders (1999 index, 1999 overview). In fact, the 2000 report devoted more words (and terrorist crimes) to Iraq than any other nation. From providing safe-haven to Abu Nidal to attacking U.N. personnel, I will not review the details of the 2000 report here. Anyone interested can click the links. But I warn liberals: you will not like what you see, because it will force you to reevaluate some sacred cows produced for convenience in the era of hating George W. Bush, including those that reared their heads in Obamas speech on Tuesday. The fact is that the fight against global Islamic terror is exactly thatglobal. It must occur on many fronts. To judge that the fight was never in Iraq but always in Afghanistan is amazingly simplistic and obviously inaccurate, and would never be made by supposedly sophisticated people if not for their seething hatred of George W. Bush. That hatred forces them into back-flips and contradictions in the ugly, purely emotional process of opposing everything he does. Bushs identification of Iraq as a prime terror threatpursued only after the removal of the Taliban in Afghanistanis 100 percent consistent with what the Clinton administration stated throughout its eight years. Surely, liberals know this. If they do notand if Barack Obama, their standard-bearer, does notthen this speaks very poorly, and quite frighteningly, of their ability to run American foreign policy over the next four years. The explanation for their thinking is either ignorance or a blinding hatred of George W. Bush that obliterates their ability to assess reality and the world. Whatever the answer, Obamas speech on Tuesday was not a good moment for anyone who hopes this man can lead America in this historic battle facing the world.
John McCain’s specialty is whiffing on “giant softballs”.
ping
The election hasn’t started and he is actually doing better than we give him credit. Right now GW was behind 17 pts and was Lurch’s to lose, which he did magnificently. Remember, don’t fire til you see the pinks of their beady little eyes.
Pray for W and Our Troops
Barak’s college crowd might reassess their candidate if they knew he will reinstate the draft.
McCain is too Chicken $hit to do anything. The guy is pretty worthless. I can’t vote for the no good SOB!
Realize that in the last 2 months he's eliminated a 15 point deficit by simply letting the Obamassiah defeat himself.
When your opponent is scoring own-goals, don't do ANYTHING to stop them or break their concentration! Right now, McCain should not address a SINGLE POINT - this or others - against the Obamassiah. If McCain says anything in public, it should be positive and only about his own positions.
I disagree. I believe he is biding his time and letting Obama hang himself. O is so full of himself and that kind usually ends up shooting themselves in the foot like Kerry did.
...........that obliterates their ability to assess reality and the world.
.Liberal suffering from BDS
"From hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee. Ye damned whale".
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