For almost two years Democrats have demanded the president publicly admit mistakes in Iraq. They’ve carped at him to fire Donald Rumsfeld, revise the war strategy, demand more of Iraqi leaders, and increase troop levels.
Now that their demands have been met, are they giving the president even a little credit? How can they? Doing so would contradict a cornerstone of liberal theology: that Bush is sooo stooopid. Winning elections hinges on disparaging Bush, while winning in Iraq is peripheral – at least until a Democrat is president.
I’ll wager that if tomorrow Bush announced a full withdrawal, Democrats would throw hissy fits about it the day after tomorrow. It would be too hasty or too gradual or too expensive or too disorganized – too stupid for some contrived reason. They’ll never give Bush any credit. They didn’t when Baghdad fell, when Saddam was captured and executed, when Iraqis voted in the first free election in a generation, or as scores of insurgent and al-Qaida leaders have been killed or captured.
I’d like to see our new congressional “leadership” combine their superior intellect with the mandate they insist they were granted and actually do something. They have consistently preached that this war is unjustified, immoral, illegal and a failure.
Well, now they control Congress and can step up and demonstrate the principled leadership they malign Bush for lacking and act on their rhetoric. If they so sincerely believe that this president connived to manipulate the country into a manufactured war (phenomenal achievement for someone stooopid), they should phase out funding just like they did for the Vietnam War, and then impeach Bush. Assuming they really believed what they said before the last election – and are the patriots they claim to be – how can they not? Put up or shut up.
Reed Purcell
Everett
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