12/6/2005
Today, Howard Dean, the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee no less, declared all hopes of a US victory in Iraq to be mistaken:
Saying the “idea that we’re going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong,” Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean predicted today that the Democratic Party will come together on a proposal to withdraw National Guard and Reserve troops immediately, and all US forces within two years.
Dean made his comments in an interview on WOAI Radio in San Antonio.
“I’ve seen this before in my life. This is the same situation we had in Vietnam. Everybody then kept saying, ‘just another year, just stay the course, we’ll have a victory.’ Well, we didn’t have a victory, and this policy cost the lives of an additional 25,000 troops because we were too stubborn to recognize what was happening.”
Two quick thoughts here:
- Dean absolutely believes that Iraq is just another Viet Nam.
- Rather than stay and fight the terrorists, Dean believes we should run as fast as we can away from terrorists.
And, as outrageous and cowardly as that statement is, Dean doesn’t stop there. He then went on to compare the controversy over pre-war intelligence to Watergate:
“What we see today is very much like what was going in Watergate,” Dean said. “It turns out there is a lot of good evidence that President Bush did not tell the truth when he was asking Congress for the power to go to war. The President said last week that Congress saw the same intelligence that he did in making the decision to go to war, and that is flat out wrong. The President withheld some intelligence from the Senate Intelligence Committee. He withheld the report from the CIA that in fact there was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction (in Iraq), that they did not have a nuclear program. They (the White House) selectively gave intelligence to the United States Senate and the United States Congress and got them to give the go ahead to attack these people.”
So, Iraq is Viet Nam and since the whole Plame-gate issue has fizzled out, the pre-war intelligence issue becomes the new Watergate comparison.
Have I not said this over and over? This is exactly what liberals in general and DNC leaders in particular have been dreaming of for some time now… A return to the glory days when they forced the US to retreat from South Viet Nam — then cut off all economic and military aid to that country, insuring that South Viet Nam would fall and hundreds of thousands slaughtered — and President Nixon was toppled by the Watergate scandal.
What ideas do they have for victory today?
They want to “redeploy” the troops. In other words, pull them back from the war on terror… A war, I might add, that we are winning!
Despite media reports, Iraq has become almost a literal meat grinder for the insurgents and terrorists. It’s like the D-Con Roach Motel: The terrorists sneak in but they don’t get out.
And that’s because US and Iraqi forces are over there kicking their butts. Yes, they are taking casualties, but their performance has also been magnificent. Consider what US forces have been asked to do over the years:
- Topple Saddam’s Regmine
- Find Saddam and root out the insurgency
- Help rebuild Iraqi schools, hospitals, communities, and their infrastructure.
- Train the new Iraqi military and police force.
- Protect Iraqi citizens, especially during times when they are voting on their new government.
- and the list goes on…
Our troops have done everything asked of them, and done it very well. And now DNC Chairman Dean wants them to retreat.
Well, that makes sense to me, because so many (not all) DNC leaders have chosen to turn tail and run on this issue. Now they want our troops to follow their example.
Conservatives have been saying for months now that Democrats are once again becoming the party of McGovern. Just yesterday, Rush dared the DNC to just go the rest of the way and declare their wish to see a complete and immediate withdrawal.
Looks to me like they decided to do exactly that.
Remember what happened to McGovern? Think about it.
David Flanagan
Viewpointjournal.com
2 Comments
To counter such an attack, all the democrats have to do is replay the George W. Bush interview 15 months ago, where he said the war is unwinnable.
Here is why I think the Republicans have laid the groundwork for their 2006 defeat:
1) Jack Abramoff
2) Duke Cunningham
3) A more conservative court will simply piss off Americans
Comment by tony martin — 1/14/2006 @ 1:42 am
Tony,
President Bush never said the war is unwinnable. Opponents constantly try to spin the fact that Bush has often said that this war is not won in the conventional fashion, with our troops taking on the opposing army, or forcing governments to surrender.
And, yes, what is happening with Abramoff could hurt Republicans, but, if you’ll notice, the first cut of congressman being investigated includes two Democrats, one of whom is Harry Reid, the Senate Minority Leader.
As for a conservative court pissing off Americans; if that is true, then why do polls indicate that Americans want Judge Alito to be confirmed to the Supreme Court by a wide margin? I think Americans are more concerned with overreaching federal courts than with courts that simply try to uphold existing laws.
But thats just my opinion. We’ll find out for sure in November.
David
Comment by David — 1/14/2006 @ 6:49 am