I stopped paying attention to this thread a while back, when it started to drift into something else. Not knockin' that or anything. That's what threads do.
But for several days now, this thread has been on the front page here with the title: "Democrats Want to Lose another war."
And the title itself, while ridiculous, deserves not only a mocking rebuke but an honest appraisal.
The war in Iraq, unlike the war in Afghanistan, was optional. No Al Qaeda , no connection to 9-11, and no WMD. There's just no question about that. One brutal dictator brutally dictating, as brutal dictators do the world over. Even so, his country was contained tighter than a noose. Embargo, daily fly-overs and attacks by enemy aircraft, and foreign inspectors weaving all throughout his country.
Indeed, this became a full scale war of choice, not of necessity by any means whatsoever.
Now? The situation in Iraq is grim.
Frankly, it's a nightmare in not just the human toll, but the toll it's taken on what it took the United States two hundred and fifty years to create. A beacon. A better way. A just way.
My god. Before the United States, there was Britain. And before Britain there was Rome.
And now a maniacal and unnecessary war threatening to tear the whole thing down..... The administration advocating torture... The squandering of untold amounts of capital... The squandering of lives.... The loss of trust... The loss of respect.... The loss of the world's good will.... and the sorrow of our better angels.
The US has by far, by FAR the strongest military the world has ever known.
But it is about to lose a war.
The ramifications being almost too complex and indeed too horrible to contemplate.
And you want to blame Democrats for that? That is just about the most stupid thing I think I've ever heard in perhaps my whole entire life.
The nation has turned a sharp corner that the Republicans are either too scared or too inept to face. The citizens of the United States do not support this war. They are overwhelmingly doubtful of the evidence given to justify it, and have serious misgivings when it comes to trusting those responsible for presenting that evidence.
Now.... Where do the Democrats fit into all of this?
They voted to give the President the ability to go to war. They did not vote for the war itself. I see the former as lending leverage that Bush could bring to bear diplomatically... and the latter as a last resort. But as we know, when it comes to Iraq, there was no such need for a "last resort."
He took that vote and ran away with it. Like a kid catching a pass and running clear past the end zone, over Mable's flower garden, over the fence and up to his room. This was a Senate used to dealing with sane people.
So I kind of understand where the Democrats were coming from on this.
But how about the citizens themselves? Are the Democrat citizens going to be responsible for losing the war in Iraq? This would be their fault?
For one thing... More people want the withdrawal than voted for Bush. So that means that it's not exactly an entirely Democrat sentiment.
And how's about the unrest? Toad rightly pointed out back in August that Sheehan's protest, much to the dismay of the protesters themselves, would fizzle out in September. It did. So where is the civil unrest?
It just doesn't fly.
I know the meme that's starting to take foot with some of you. "If we lose, it will be because Republicans were stripped of the ability to win by the Democrats."
That is utter crap. Republicans have been given free reign for years. A meal ticket. Carte blanche. They simply screwed it up. And that's nobody's fault but their own.
And the tab is nowhere near close to being paid for.
"Democrats Want to Lose another war"
Give me a break.
