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Jewish World Review
Nov. 9, 2006
/ 18 Mar-Cheshvan, 5767
On Iraq: Okay, Dems, now what?
By
Larry Elder
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Democrats take charge!
For the Republicans' loss of Congress, credit public anger over Iraq.
Not just because, as the president put it, "Iraq is not working well
enough, fast enough," but the accusation often unchallenged by
members of the mainscream media that "President Bush lied us into the
war."
After the Democratic takeover of Congress, one pundit simply wrote off
this hideous allegation as mere pre-election posturing. You know, just
"politics." Thus, the Democrats slander the commander in chief during a
period of wartime. And, after they win, it's just political chitchat.
Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., incoming chairman of the House Judiciary
Committee, once posted on his website the alleged acts of the president
that, in his view, constitute grounds for impeachment. Suddenly, before
the election, Conyers removed this from his website. And incoming
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., calls the impeachment efforts now "off
the table."
Surely, if the president indeed "lied us into the war," he damn well
deserves impeachment. But now that the Democrats captured Congress, they
suddenly stopped believing that President Bush sent men and women into
harm's way as a result of a calculated, considered, deliberate deceit.
In 2000 and 2004, many Democrats yelled about "stolen elections" and
voter "disenfranchisement." In a letter to Democrats in Ohio, John Kerry
claimed that state election officials stole the election from him. But
what of the lack of Republican cries of voter fraud,
"disenfranchisement" and demands for investigations? Apparently, when
Democrats win, elections function smoothly, but when Republicans win,
the fix is in.
Pre-election, Democrats claimed they possessed a "unified" strategy to
deal with Iraq. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., had a "four-point plan."
Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., the architect of the Democratic House
takeover, touted his "five-point plan." But on election night, after the
Democratic takeover became obvious, Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., offered
a slightly different perspective.
Sherman: I don't think the party has united behind a plan that is any
more specific than we should leave a little sooner than George Bush has
in mind.
Elder: That's not much of a plan.
Sherman: The voters did not require us to have a plan. . . . Nobody
knows what's going to happen in the future and whether the Democratic
idea or the Republican plan on this or that issue is going to be good. .
. .
Elder: But I remember watching Sunday morning chat shows and hearing
Chuck Schumer say the Democrats were united behind a plan to deal with
Iraq. I heard Rahm Emanuel say the Democrats were united behind a plan
for Iraq. Now what I'm hearing you say is whatever our plan is, we're
not going to stay quite as long as George W. Bush would stay. So which
is it?
Sherman: I think Democrats have a variety of different plans that have
only one thing in common, and that is leave sooner than George Bush. . .
. I think that it's hard to say that Democrats are unified on Iraq
behind something very specific.
The military uses a term, AOS All Options Stink. Withdrawing the
troops precipitously with a timetable simply encourages our enemies to
wait us out. Indeed, a week after the election, a front-page headline in
The New York Times read: "Get Out of Iraq Now? Not So Fast, Experts Say"
a little too late to influence the election.
The Iraqi government, itself, wants us to stay until its military and
police forces grow stronger. By withdrawing, leaving behind a weak,
fragile Iraqi government, we betray the brave Iraqis who went to the
polls and voted for democracy, as well as those who joined the military
and the police to provide security for their fledgling government. We
run the risk of betraying our allies the way we did in Vietnam with a
resulting bloodbath, and leaving an oil-rich launching pad for
terrorists to continue attacks against "apostate governments" in the
Arab world, as well as against Europe and the United States.
Despite the sound Bush economy, historians will judge the Bush
administration as a success or a failure based upon Iraq. Even
with the new Democrat Congress, the president remains commander in chief
for two more years. President Bush should ignore the polls, the cries
for a "strategic redeployment," and the demand for a "summit" between
the terror states of Syria and Iran.
If Bush, as he says, refuses to leave Iraq until it can defend itself
and become a reliable ally on terror, then the war should be fought
more, rather than less, aggressively. This might require, as Sen. John
McCain, R-Ariz., proposes, sending more troops. One more thing.
Notwithstanding the violence in Iraq, 61 percent of recently polled
Iraqis say that whatever their hardships, getting rid of Saddam was the
right thing to do.
The military says that, by providing terrorists and weapons, Syria and
Iran work to destabilize Iraq. Perhaps it's time we send them a message.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Larry Elder is the author of, most recently, "Showdown: Confronting Bias, Lies and the Special Interests That Divide America."
(Proceeds from sales help fund JWR) Let him know what you think of his column by clicking here.
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© 2006, Creators Syndicate
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