Tue
Apr 24 2007
07:40 pm
Thoughts on "surrender"
By: R. Neal

I have said this time and again, and I will say it one more time.

Sen. Reid and other Congressional Democrats are hitting the wrong note on Iraq and getting it all wrong with talk of "failure" of U.S. policy and an "unwinnable" war. We won already. Yet they are letting the GOP minority and that idiot in the White House frame it as "surrender" and "defeat".

Why do the President and his GOP dead-enders continue to malign America and our soldiers with all this talk of "defeat", and why do Democrats in Congress let them get away with it?

What Congressional Democrats should be doing is acknowledging the Commander in Chief and his GOP dead-enders for their brilliant planning and execution of the war, which has led to the overthrow and execution of Saddam, the neutralization of his weapons of mass destruction, an Iraqi popular election that established a Constitution and a Parliament that promotes democracy in the region, not to mention catching all the terrorists on the flypaper of Iraq which has prevented any terrorists attacks against the U.S. since 9/11. What's not to like?

As Bush said early on, "Mission Accomplished." Let the tribunals decide after he leaves office whether he was able to effectively communicate his Victory so as to end it right there, or, if not, whether his failure to do so led to thousands of unnecessary military and civilian deaths or simply more martyrs in his War of Civilizations. Bush is a tough guy, and a "wartime president" and a "decider". He should have no problem explaining himself to the international courts and the courts of world opinion, not to mention presidential historians. Who are we to judge? Let them sort it out.

What Sen. Reid and other Congressional Democrats should do is declare Victory and call for our troops to be brought home right now. No timelines necessary. Schedule the parades and marching bands and tributes right away. Jessica Lynch and Kevin Tillman can lead the parades.

And so what if there's a civil war in Iraq? We didn't start it. All we did was impose a free market of ideas. Let the markets decide. How or why should we be a party to it? Which "state" or side do we belong to? Who are the "states" or "sides"? Bush doesn't know, so why should we care? He's the decider. Mission accomplished. Let the Iraqis sort it out. We delivered democracy and free markets and self determination and freedom from oppressive rule -- everything they need to be just like us. Right?

OK, then.

Topics:
rikki's picture

Thank you for some sensible

Submitted by rikki on Tue, 2007/04/24 - 8:56pm.

Thank you for some sensible thoughts. The Democrats tendency to play right into Rove's hands grows ever more frustrating. Why are they so helpless at framing issues?

I'm scared to look into Kucinich's impeachment proposal because I'm afraid it will just be an attempt to prosecute policy decisions, not crimes. Hopefully he is smarter than that.

In any case, yes, the war is over, and Bush simply lacks the will to say so. I'm sure it has nothing to do with his reluctance to stem the flow of taxpayer dollars into crony contractor coffers. It's not like he spent his first several months of rule securing tax reforms worth tens of millions to his family and Cabinet members and no-bid contracts worth billions to his major donors when he should have been protecting America from the plainly apparent terrorist threat.

Rachel's picture

I'm inclined to agree with

Submitted by Rachel on Tue, 2007/04/24 - 10:32pm.

I'm inclined to agree with Greg Sargent on this one.

Rachel's picture

Then there's this - and from

Submitted by Rachel on Tue, 2007/04/24 - 10:47pm.

Then there's this - and from Joe Klein, no less.

jbarker's picture

Democrat Responsibility

Submitted by jbarker on Tue, 2007/04/24 - 11:50pm.

The failure of leading democrats to oppose the war, a war of agression, helped make it possible. Until they and their followers take responsibility for this act, the Democrat party be compromised in its efforts to lead the U.S. out of this war they helped make. The lame excuse that they were mislead only emphasizes their culpability. Rep. Duncan's brave stance makes liars and cowards of them all.

Andy Axel's picture

The failure of leading

Submitted by Andy Axel on Wed, 2007/04/25 - 9:18am.

The failure of leading democrats to oppose the war, a war of agression, helped make it possible. Until they and their followers take responsibility for this act, the Democrat party be compromised in its efforts to lead the U.S. out of this war they helped make.

Gee. Think maybe that'd be even dumber than surrender?

Sen Reid: "After much thought, we've decided that our complicity made this all possible. So, at the end of the day, it's really our fault, not George W. Bush's. We take responsibility."

That's just the sort of out the GOP has been waiting for.

____________________________

Georgia's in Florida, dumbass!

gttim's picture

We have not won. We cannot

Submitted by gttim on Wed, 2007/04/25 - 1:12am.

We have not won. We cannot win. We did not win Vietnam. We could not have won in Vietnam.

Who can surrender in Iraq? There is no central authority. Just say Bush and the GOP screwed up big time and bring them home. That is the truth. The GOP needs to quit playing politics. Their use of the soldiers as political props has worn thin and everybody is seeing through it.

rikki's picture

case in point

Submitted by rikki on Wed, 2007/04/25 - 10:18am.

Since you're obviously afflicted, maybe you can explain why Democrats are so helpless at framing issues.

Andy Axel's picture

Since you're obviously

Submitted by Andy Axel on Wed, 2007/04/25 - 11:09am.

Since you're obviously afflicted, maybe you can explain why Democrats are so helpless at framing issues.

Leaving aside the obvious and unnecessary personal shot(*) for the mo', I'll give my observations.

1) They seem content to let the opposition do the framing for them.

2) They tend to believe the best in people, rather than the worst. They assume that the Pugs are playing the same game that they are. That's wrong. Broadly speaking, the GOP uses power in service of power. They've just become ruthless and shameless about it in recent years. I suspect that there's little appetite for taking a lower road.

3) The DP largely bought into the mythos built around the "Clinton Miracle." Clinton and his pal Terry McAuliffe introduced a milquetoast brand of Democratic domestic politics more palatable to the Chamber of Commerce in order to garner big dollar donations.

4) Big Media is vocally and absurdly hostile to Democratic PR. I don't know specifically why that is, but you see it all the time. The endless clowning around $400 haircuts is one really recent example.

* Afflicted. Nice choice of term. Y'know, I've probably told this story, but I was a Naderite in 2000. I thought it was time to "send a message" to the hapless Democrats about distinguishing themselves and making an effort to win back the base that they'd been so grievously ass-fucking throughout the Clinton years. Turns out that Nader - sorry sack of puerile, self-aggrandizing, narcissistic shit that he is - took the stance that he should play liberator for the party by being a spoiler in 2000 and a paid GOP vote sucking apparatus in 2004.

Fool me twice, etc.

If you want to call that an affliction, fine. Have at. I still manage to sleep pretty well at night with the notion that we could have had a President Kerry or a Senator Ford Jr. and that I, in whatever small manner, helped that effort.

____________________________

Georgia's in Florida, dumbass!

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