Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid isn’t at the top of my list of trusted politicians. There’s something that bugs me about the guy and he just acts like a typical politician, be it Left or Right.
However, there is absolutely nothing wrong with his stating that the war in Iraq is lost. For once it’s great to hear an honest comment coming out of Washington. Vice President Dick Cheney called the remark “defeatist”. Is anyone listening to this old man anymore? Nothing he ever says is right. If he told me the sun was out, I’d have to look out the window myself to be sure, even if the light was streaming through the windows.
Note to readers: If any of the traits you use to describe Dick Cheney include “trustworthy” or “believable” then you need to face up to the fact that you’re completely out of touch with reality. If your own spouse or children were as wrong as often as this guy has been you’d be looking for counseling.
The situation in Iraq is a mess. Several of Iraq’s cabinet members have already resigned because the Prime Minister wouldn’t accept, of all ironic things, a timetable for withdrawal of US troops from their country. They don’t want us there. Today there are stories all over noting that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is losing support throughout the country.
Calling the war “lost” isn’t defeatist Mr. Cheney, it’s realistic. It’s time you wake up out of your dream state and join the rest of us.
President Bush had another wondrous comment. He said, “It makes no sense to tell the enemy when you start to plan withdrawing. If we’re to do so, the enemy would simply mark their calendars and begin plotting how to take over a country when we leave.”
Note to President Bush: The enemy doesn’t need to mark any calendar. They’re already plotting on how to take over the country when we leave. Right now they’re just involved in driving us out of a country we have no right being in. Do you really believe the insurgents are sitting around twiddling their thumbs and just hoping they can get an accurate date for our departure? This isn’t like an upcoming prom date. These people will fight us endlessly for a thousand years and not ever look at a calendar.
What is the alternative Mr. President? Your alternative is to stay there indefinitely. We already see your plan. You know the plan that’s changed with every new season. You declared this war over in 2003. It’s 2007 now. We’ve been at this for more than five years with no end in sight as far as you’re concerned. If anything you’ve told us actually came to pass we wouldn’t be demanding a firm date to get out but you leave us no choice. We’ve tried it your way and your way leaves our kids in harms way indefinitely.
The mantra that it’s better to fight them there so that we don’t have to fight them here is another load of garbage. I notice that I don’t see a lot of soldiers saying that. I see a lot of non-veteran pundits saying it and a lot of fat-cat politicians saying it. The problem is, they don’t have to pay the cost of that failed concept. Is it really worth it to see hundreds of our children die every single year for this concept? I think I’d rather spend the money on more real homeland security and risk the odd cafe bomb that takes out 20 people every third year than to send hundreds of our kids to their deaths in a far off country.
It’s time more of our elected officials grow some balls and tell this administration to shut up, get on board with the close-out effort or else. The war in Iraq is lost. This administration lost it long before we ever even got there. It was a losing idea from the start and one that the President’s father was smart enough to realize.
The best thing that could have ever happened for George H. W. Bush was that his incompetent son get elected President. Before that happened his term was looking pretty lackluster. Now he looks like a genius. He was able to get us into and out of Iraq with dignity. That’s something that seems impossible now. At least Harry Reid has the guts to call a loss a loss and move on.
