Posted on 12/13/2005 6:58:55 AM PST by Joe Brower
Why the change of heart?
Democrats are declaring defeat in Iraq as a strategy to return to power.
Joe Brower
December 11, 2005
Over the last couple of weeks, the gloves appear to have come off in Washington, D.C. in the increasingly strident debate over U.S. policy and military actions in Iraq. Unfortunately for Democrats who are looking toward next year’s elections, as well as a few with Presidential aspirations in 2008, the muzzles have also been removed from some high-profile Democrats that their fellows probably wish had stayed firmly in place.
Leading the charge is DNC Chairman Howard Dean, who, contrary to his statements of seeing the mission through during the 2004 Democratic primaries, stated recently that, “The idea that we’re going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong.” At least he didn’t mention the word “quagmire” this time around. Although Mr. Dean’s staff was quick to attempt to spin these words as something other than defeatism, their meaning was quite clear.
Not to be outdone, Congressional Rep. John Murtha has recently commented that our military is currently “broken” and “living hand to mouth”. That’s certainly not the story being heard from the men and women who are actually over there fighting, but unfortunately, those brave folks don’t seem to get much airtime. It’s almost as if Mr. Murtha, a decorated veteran himself, has forgotten what it means to be in a war.
The same goes for past Presidential-hopeful John Kerry, who on CBS’s ‘Face the Nation’ talk show recently was basically calling our brave troops “terrorists”. U.S. House minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is currently calling for “an immediate troop withdrawal.”
“Victory is not a strategy” seems to be the current motto of many Democrat leaders. Not surprisingly, these same people become quite indignant when their patriotism is questioned, but the plain truth is this: If you are rooting for your nation's defeat by foreign adversaries, you cannot logically call yourself patriotic. And let’s not forget that when recently called to the carpet for a vote on troop withdrawal from Iraq, Rep. Murtha and almost all of his comrades voted “nay”, thereby negating their previous statements.
So it becomes clear that these words are not believed even by the people saying them; they are merely a ploy in order to once again attain political power. However, this strategy is quite misguided. The naysayers, in attempting to position retreat as a winning strategy for the 2006 elections, are doing little more than shooting their own party in the foot. And the Democrats looking to next year’s elections know it, hence their silence or words to the contrary on the matter. While doom and gloom statements may appeal to the hard left flank of their base, it is alienating more and more the votes of the center, which is where elections are ultimately won and lost.
Let’s not forget that contrary to all these predictions of failure, there have been two successful elections in Iraqi within the last year, with another about to happen as I write these words. The red-handed tyrant, Saddam Hussein, is gone, never to return. Thousands of new schools, clinics, and other public service facilities have been built. Markets in many Iraqi cities are thriving. The rebuilt Iraqi security forces now number over 200,000 men and are assuming more and more command and control of their own operations every day. Just a few days ago, Iraqi citizens themselves turned in Amir Khalaf Fanus, a high-ranking Al Qaeda member known locally as “the Butcher”. That’s right. Native Iraqis nailed this terrorist, not U.S. forces, a sure sign of a people growing more and more ready to take their destiny into their own hands. And the political left is ready to throw all of these victories away?
“Stay the course” is not a campaign slogan; it’s how you win wars. We will leave when the job is done; don’t be surprised to see some troops coming home by early next year. But to pull out now is to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, and could likely doom the 50 million people we have freed over the last four years to a renewal of tyranny. Such a reversal would throw away for political gain the brave sacrifices our military personnel have made in both Iraq and Afghanistan. And last but not least, it would embolden an enemy to whom such overtures are merely a sign of weakness, inviting further attack. Sadly, that seems to be a price some Democrat politicians appear ready to pay.
But that was then, and this is now. These tactics worked once, when the U.S. lost the Vietnam War not on the battlefield, but rather, and most shamefully, in Congress. The vast majority of Americans have learned from their past mistakes. As the leaders of the free world, we cannot, and we will not let such dishonor and failure happen again.
Well put... may all Americans remember their sedition in 2006 & 2008!
Thanks for the ping. Well thought out article. I am going to remember what the Democrats have done. It is despicable and treasonous!
Bump.
Nice work, Joe. Glad you are on our side. Thanks for posting the thread.
Well done, JoeB
Great letter Joe!
This isn't a letter, though. A month ago, I landed a gig as a bi-weekly local columnist in my town's paper. The paper made an opening for a "conservative" columnist to offset a local Dem/lib, and me and a lady with the local Repubs club stepped up to the plate.
We need to take every opportunity we can get to have our POV made known.
bttt
when the us pulled out, not having 'lost' leaving s.vietnamese in charge of their own war effort, the dems/stealth-commies saw the chance to hand over south vietnam to their comrades in north vietnam. congress then simply de-funded the south vietnamese effort. the south fell to the north vietnamese communists who were emboldened by the help of their allies in the usa.
look for the dems/stealth-commies in congress and in leadership positions to attempt to sabatoge the freedom effort in iraq in similar ways...
they then will point to the failure as 'proof' that they, the dems/stealth-commies are more deserving to be in control of the us populace then anyone else
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