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Monday, October 30, 2006

Republicans Need To Stand Strong On Iraq

By Rob on October 30, 2006 at 05:05 pm
5 Comments

David Limbaugh:

Does the Republican Party truly believe Iraq is part of the war on terror and that the war on terror is the most important issue facing voters next week? If so, I wish its operatives and candidates would start acting like it instead of running from Iraq and President Bush.

Too many GOP candidates and spokesmen are playing into the Democrats’ hands by virtually conceding the Iraq issue—an issue upon which the Democrats are extremely vulnerable themselves, if challenged.

I know, I know, many readers will think I’m way off base making such an assertion, having bought into the spoon-fed conventional wisdom that Iraq is a guaranteed loser. What is guaranteed is that America will be the loser if we abandon the president on Iraq and abandon the mission there.

I’ve seen countless Republican politicians sprinting for the tall grass when asked if they support the president’s policy on Iraq. Most of them by the way, are incumbents who have most certainly supported Bush’s thankless policy but are now afraid to stand by him in the heat of an election contest.

The same holds true for many GOP operatives, not to mention conservative pundits, who are also going wobbly on this difficult war. I watched Elizabeth Dole, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, on “Fox News Sunday” appearing to duck the Iraq question, saying that people have different opinions about the war as a matter of conscience. She eventually got around to pointing out the inferiority of the Democratic position on the war, but she was quite unwilling for the election to be a national referendum on Iraq.

Given this approach by GOP insiders, what is an inquiring voter to think? If Republicans won’t stand by President Bush on Iraq, how can we expect the public to?

Exactly.

Read the whole thing.

Iraq is our war to either win or loose.  The terrorist insurgency cannot defeat us.  The most they can do is harass our military until our will to complete the mission fades and we withdraw.  Which, of course, has been their strategy since shortly after our invasion.

Sadly, they’re getting help from a certain American political party that has decided to put politics above sound foreign policy and play on American impatience with Iraq for the sake of election day victory.

Comments

Avatar for aNONOMISLY

Our entire country needs to stand strong.
strong, ..and force al-Maliki to choose between the coalition and the following thugs throwing threats towards our soldiers:

Senior Mahdi Army commander Abu Baqir al-Kabi last week sounded a warning to U.S. forces against further escalation. “Now, we are dealing with them politically and peacefully,” al-Kabi told TIME. “But if they continue provoking us, they should only expect the inevitable.”

aNONOMISLY on October 30, 2006 at 07:32 pm
Avatar for gregdn

I do think a lot of us are confused by the number of players in Iraq.  Even the pundits seem perplexed- by some accounts Sadr is loyal to Iran but others say he’s not.
Perhaps Bush should embark on an ‘education’ campaign to highlight the different factions for the public.

gregdn on October 31, 2006 at 04:00 am
Avatar for aNONOMISLY

I do think a lot of us are confused by the number of players in Iraq.  Even the pundits seem perplexed- by some accounts Sadr is loyal to Iran but others say he’s not.

..and it seem even we (incidently and indirectly) take some orders from al-Sadr.

e.g. our troops trying to find their missing comrade and al-Sadr (through al-Maliki) tells us to stop doing what we feel was one way of doing it.

Maliki orders Sadr City barriers removed
BAGHDAD, Oct. 31 (UPI)—Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki defied the U.S. military Tuesday and ordered military checkpoints encircling Sadr City removed by sundown

To protest the military checkpoints, radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadral-Sadr called a general strike in Sadr City, which on Tuesday closed most government buildings, schools and ships, CNN said.

orders and threats from a rabid anti-American that just happen to have lots of political clout, ..

Senior Mahdi Army commander Abu Baqir al-Kabi last week sounded a warning to U.S. forces against further escalation. “Now, we are dealing with them politically and peacefully,” al-Kabi told TIME. “But if they continue provoking us, they should only expect the inevitable.”

aNONOMISLY on October 31, 2006 at 08:11 am
Avatar for robert108

Perhaps Bush should embark on an ‘education’ campaign to highlight the different factions for the public.

Perhaps the MSM should tell us the whole truth of what is going on over there.

"If the good men are silent only the wicked are heard.” - Edmund Burke

robert108 on October 31, 2006 at 08:37 am
Avatar for anonomisly

The state of the Iraqi police in Baghad

Posters celebrating Moqtada al-Sadr, head of the Mahdi Army militia, dot the building’s walls. The police chief sometimes remarks that Shiite militias should wipe out all Sunnis. Visitors to this violent neighborhood in the Iraqi capital whisper that nearly all the police officers have split loyalties.

And then one rainy night this month, the Sholeh police set up an ambush and killed Army Cpl. Kenny F. Stanton Jr., a 20-year-old budding journalist, his unit said. At the time, Stanton and other members of the unit had been trailing a group of Sholeh police escorting known Mahdi Army members.

anonomisly on October 31, 2006 at 08:01 pm
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