Massa for Congress
Most of you are probably aware of the opposing rallies this past week in Johnstown, PA. A tiny group of swiftboaters hoping to publicly smear Representative Murtha was countered by a group 10 times bigger rallying in his favor. (
link,
link) I was there and I want to talk about why we have to stand strong against those attacking Murtha. It's about a lot more than just showing that Democrats are not weak and spineless, though that can be important at times. Sliming Congressman Murtha is central to coordinated GOP efforts to keep Democrats from retaking congress in November.
Let's start with
this article from yesterday's Boston Globe. Along with descriptions of anti-Murtha propaganda being mailed out to American Legion members and an observation that the anti-Murtha group contains the usual suspects from GOP-coordinated swiftboat efforts, the article contains this salient observation:
the veterans who want Murtha defeated hope to influence congressional races nationwide, helping depict Democrats' push for withdrawal from Iraq as a slap in the face to US troops.
Make no mistake about it: this is a central part of GOP national strategy. No matter how much they might deny it, this group is secretly controlled from Karl Rove's office. (Duncan Hunter is also involved) There is no question that Congressman Murtha has been perhaps the most prominent player in Democratic criticism of the war in Iraq. This strategy seeks not only to blunt his national influence but to paint all criticism or talk of withdrawal as somehow not supporting the troops.
Here is my non-veteran opponent spreading a version of Republican spin upon his return from a recent "fact-finding" trip to Iraq, attempting to apply this national GOP strategy (link):
"I am absolutely certain that our presence there is making a difference in liberating the people of Iraq," said Kuhl, R-Hammondsport, after meeting with New York soldiers and top Iraqi and U.S. officials in Baghdad and at Balad Airbase in northern Iraq. ..."These men and women are working 10 to 12 hours a day under the threat of attack," Kuhl said. "And they told me the worst thing is when they watch TV on their one day off a week and the news doesn't reflect what they're really doing in Iraq. They told me, 'We're liberating a country.' "
Meanwhile, those of us in the reality-based world realize that my opponent picked a bad week to come back spouting happy talk. As one Rochester area blogger noted (link, bold added):
If you saw today's Democrat & Chronicle, then you had to do a double-take at the story entitled, "Kuhl, back from Iraq, says U.S. on right track". Huh? On the same day that the leading generals in Iraq are admitting that sectarian violence is spiraling out of control and that the country is on the brink of civil war, this guy has the nerve to come back to this part of the country toting the Republican party line that everything is fine and that we're "making a difference in liberating the people of Iraq"?!?!?! Clearly, Randy forgot to take his anti-vapidness medicine or else he actually thinks his constituents are mindless fools. Sure Randy, we're doing a fine job, the people are even less free now than they were before.
Here are my responses to the swiftboaters and their cohorts:
First, being unrealistic about the Iraq War, as the Bush administration and its allies in the Rubber Stamp Congress have done, does nothing to help our troops. It is in the interest of our troops to be honest with the American public about what is happening in Iraq.
Yes it has now gotten so bad that even Secretary Rumsfeld is loathe to admit his own previous happy talk. (link) This is the same Secretary Rumsfeld who has forced the officer corps to agree with his assessments or be punished. We've all heard about General Shinseki. But he's only one example. Here is another look at how Rumsfeld and his subordinates have abused the promotion process to maintain control over what the officer corps said in public. Thomas Ricks has a lot of discussion of pre-war dissent within the officer corps, something Rumsfeld and his enablers downplayed, in his new book Fiasco.
When you realize the lengths that Rumsfeld has gone to to maintain his alternate reality, it is very telling when things get so bad that even he has to abandon the happy talk.
Because of the lies promoted by George W. Bush and Don Rumsfeld and their allies in congress, our troops have been under-manned, under-equipped, under-protected and forced to fight a war we never should have started.
Second, it isn't just Democrats who have been critical of the way Iraq has been handled.
Most of us are familiar with the statements made by Senator Hagel. But prominent Republican military experts have been critical also. Notable among them is lifelong Republican General Paul van Riper, who has headed both the Marine War College at Quantico and the National War College. (link, link) Thomas Friedman has also been critical of the situation in Iraq, saying many things I agree with. Here is more criticism that includes Republicans.
Third, events in Iraq affect what happens in the entirety of the Middle East.
The New York Times nailed this one and exposed the ongoing ineptness of Rumsfeld's spin on Iraq (link):
Americans are frightened by the growing chaos in the Mideast, and the last thing they needed to hear this week was Mr. Rumsfeld laying blame for sectarian violence on a few Al Qaeda schemers. What they want is some assurance that the administration has a firm grasp on reality and has sensible, achievable goals that could lead to an end to the American involvement in Iraq with as little long-term damage as possible. Instead, Mr. Rumsfeld offered the same old exhortation to stay the course, without the slightest hint of what the course is, other than the rather obvious point that the Iraqis have to learn to run their own country.
By contrast, the generals flanking him were pillars of candor and practicality. Gen. John Abizaid, the U.S. commander in the Middle East, said "Iraq could move toward civil war" if the sectarian violence -- which he said "is probably as bad as I've seen it" -- is not contained. The generals tried to be optimistic about the state of the Iraqi security forces, but it was hard. They had to acknowledge that a militia controls Basra, that powerful Iraqi government officials run armed bands that the Pentagon considers terrorist organizations financed by Iran, and that about a third of the Iraqi police force can't be trusted to fight on the right side.
Fourth, while Karl Rove and his minions are spinning alternate versions of reality in an effort to deceive the American public into voting for Republicans in November, leaders like Congressman Murtha are simply trying to do the right thing and let the chips fall where they may.
It does help when doing to right thing is also politically helpful. That isn't often the case. But the important thing is that we are trying to do the right thing and the American public sees that we are. That's why the polls are turning in our favor. (link) But we have to keep at it because November is still far away. The American people have a choice to make in November about whether they want a change in Iraq and in domestic policy. The American people deserve to know the truth before they go to the ballot box.