Say Anything Blog

There’s been something of an uprising on the left over talk of the President shaking up tactics in Iraq and his use of the “stay the course” slogan in the past.

The lefties are saying that, because the President now seems to be considering a shakeup of tactics in Iraq, he is reversing his “stay the course” rhetoric.  Which is total nonsense.

“Stay the course” is a simplified, bumper-sticker type slogan that has been used to describe the idea that we’re going to stay in Iraq until we finish our mission.  It has never meant that we’re not going to change the tactics we use to wage the war in Iraq, though that’s the empty-headed line the left is pushing.  We’ve been changing the tactics we use to wage the war in Iraq since the first year of the invasion.  That’s true of any major political operation.  Shifts in tactical policy happen all the time, and the Bush administration’s consideration of yet another shift in tactics really isn’t news.  Except when those shifts happen right before an election.  Then they’re breathlessly reported by the media as though they were something new.

It’s sad that this has to be explained to left.  And besides, I thought the Democrats were all tearing their hair out calling for a change on Iraq policy.  Shouldn’t they be encouraged that the Bush administration is reviewing the situation and considering options?

They would be if they were actually interested in victory in Iraq.  But they aren’t interested in that, really.  They’re interested in Iraq being a failure so they can use it as a political weapon against the President/Republicans.