Today at
realclearpolitics.com, Tom Bevan has an article about Paul Campos' column about Lieberman and the war in yesterday's
Rocky Mountain News.
I don't know why I'm still surprised at the drivel being written. I don't know why I still expect integrity in journalism.
I do know this: I'm not gonna sit back and take it.
I've sent the following email to Bevan.
Interesting article. I liked that chart-of-progress in Iraq at the bottom. But where is the comparison of the number of Iraqi civilians killed vs. last year? Because that's a darn important factor to consider when discussing progress in Iraq. You cannot discuss progress without counting the lives lost. We're supposed to be helping the Iraqi people but they are dying.
And you may want to consider sharing your article with Riverbend: Baghdad Burning She lives in Baghdad and she thinks we need to get out now. She thinks there is no progress. She lives there. I think her perspective beats Lieberman's four visits.
Now, on to this statement from your article: "but no administration official has ever asserted that Saddam Hussein was personally involved with 9/11. "
I'll direct you to this link: boston.com
" Even before the war in Iraq, most Bush officials did not explicitly state that Iraq had a part in the attack on the United States two years ago.
But Cheney left that possibility wide open in a nationally televised interview two days ago, claiming that the administration is learning "more and more" about connections between Al Qaeda and Iraq before the Sept. 11 attacks. "
And here: freerepublic.com
"CHENEY: We don't know. You and I talked about this two years ago. I can remember you asking me this question just a few days after the original attack. At the time I said no, we didn't have any evidence of that. Subsequent to that, we've learned a couple of things. We learned more and more that there was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda that stretched back through most of the decade of the '90s, that it involved training, for example, on BW and CW, that al-Qaeda sent personnel to Baghdad to get trained on the systems that are involved. The Iraqis providing bomb-making expertise and advice to the al-Qaeda organization.
We know, for example, in connection with the original World Trade Center bombing in '93 that one of the bombers was Iraqi, returned to Iraq after the attack of '93. And we've learned subsequent to that, since we went into Baghdad and got into the intelligence files, that this individual probably also received financing from the Iraqi government as well as safe haven. "
I love your closing:
"As I said, the news isn't all good. Serious trouble spots remain - kidnappings are up, as are multiple bomb fatalites - but that's not the point. The point is that Campos's hatred of Bush and his view of Iraq as a "bankrupt policy" has blinded him to acknowledging any signs of progress Iraq - so much so that he derides Joe Lieberman for having the gall to mention in it public. Unfortunately, that's the case with much of the left and the Democratic party these days, and it's the reason they sometimes come off looking like they're rooting for America - and more precisely, this President - to fail in Iraq."
First, that is, indeed, the point, Mr. Bevan. The 'trouble spots' are still there. And there are the problems with electricity and water and health care. And as for the left, we aren't rooting for anyone to fail in Iraq. But our President has failed Iraq. Lieberman supports this failure.