When I read cowardly drivel like this at the Boston Globe, I wonder why Democratic politicians and pundits shy away from a perfect way to smack these people down, and expose them as the dissembling cowards that they are. If you are interested, read on...
This is what should be said to the Kristols and Hannities of the world:
You want to win the war in Iraq? You want to fight another war in Iran? You think that failure in Iraq would be a disaster for America? Well, if you truly believe that, then you should not be advocating for a surge on the the order of 20,000 troops. General Petraeus' manual on counter-insurgency advocates one soldier for 50 citizens. In Iraq, that works out to 560,000. In Baghdad alone it means 140,000. You should be advocating that America get on a full-time war footing. That means reinstituting a draft. That means raising taxes to pay for the war, and not putting all the costs on our children and grandchildren. That means passing laws against war profiteers, and passing laws that require contractors to hire out-of-work Iraqis, instead of imported labor from Nepal, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. It means firing incompetent people like Condi Rice. It means admitting mistakes and truly changing course. It means acting like Roosevelt after Pearl Harbor.
But Republican pundits will never advocate those things, because as we all know, the Republicans would lose heavily in the next elections if Bush ever asked the American people, and not just the troops, to sacrifice for this disaster. And we all know that the pundit class cares more about the Republican social agenda, and more about the keeping money in the hands of the top 10% that they do about supporting the war effort.
If Republicans, or Democrats, for that matter, believe that failure in Iraq would be disasterous for America, then the only possible response would be to advocate that America get on a full wartime footing, just like Roosevelt.
Lincoln was willing to make hard choices, and pay a political price for his conviction that the Union must be maintained at all costs. He was also willing to put results ahead of personal loyalty - firing 7 Generals until he found Grant and Sherman.
LBJ knew full well, and said at the time, that forcing civil rights legislation would lose the south for the Democratic party for a generation. But he decided that it was worth it.
That's what leadership looks like.
So when will a leading democratic Senator introduce a bill to reinstitute the draft and bring troop levels in Iraq to 400-600,000? This will force Republicans to vote against the surge after they voted for it.
Cheers,
Petruk