"One further reason for sticking in Korea was,..." "They have an ingained dislike of any use of military power." "...not understanding how this"video-game" stuff corrodes..."
Good morning. Excellent points, all.
"Even if it is vital to our national security,..."
The sticking point there is convincing the people that when we do go to war it is in fact vital to national security, and then maintaining that conviction in everyone's mind (heart, gut) throughout the conflict. When that conviction exists, we always win. Unfortunately, as it concerns the war in Iraq, not everyone is convinced. It's inevidable that our representatives will waffle as they see more of their constituents waffle on support for this war, or any war.
What I cannot understand is why the administration was silent for so long. They have let the MSM create a perception of incompetence. The shocking stories out of New Orleans are, we now know, largely fabrications, but you won't see them revisit their coverage of Katrina in "Frontline" You won't
see them admit that FEMA aid came a lot qucker to the Gulf Coast than aid did to the Tsunami victims, nor will they tell us that like the Tsunami was a natural phenomenon of unprecedented size and violence.
Much the same thing has occured with respect to Iraq. The progress in the country has been totally ignored. It is literally never seen. The ratification of the constitution was literally buried in the back pages while the 2000th military was trumpted across the front pages and repeated every hour on the news for two days.
The Democrats are allowed to use the most extreme language, and any reply, even if in relatively moderate language is treated as equally extreme.
The release of Pflame's name is treated as if it was vital to the national interest, but the leak of the new of the "black cells" is a "good leak." Basically anything that reduces the credibility of the administration is allowed.
But what do we expect? That they will give both sides? The administration has got to continue the campaign. Maybe a Bush trip to Iraq.