'It's His War'

On Iraq, echoes of Vietnam from the Democrats.

Daniel Henninger writes about the latest antics of the 'Surrender Now' Democrats who are as anxious as can be to turn the fight in Iraq into another Vietnam. Lots of people have noticed this sad trend on the part of The Angry Left. It seems clear that this ageing bunch of left overs from the 60's are trying to re-live their youth by replaying the history to which they are so permanently glued and which they use to justify their existence. The Democrats have little else to live for now that they are out of power in Washington and they have so few plays in their play-book that it was inevitable that this one would eventually be brought out.

The Angry Left Democrats have several goals in mind that they apparently think will win them back their power in Washington. They believe that they can only re-gain their position by defeating the President and by extension defeating Republicans as a whole and their overall philosophy of government and foreign policy.

First they believe they must convince the American public that what we are doing there is a failure regardless of evidence to the contrary. To change policy they must have the American people on their side. Most Americans have been in favor of the war on terrorism since the attacks on 9-11 and thus on the side of the Republican arguments which support it. The Democrats have to peel that support off and thus they are waging a propaganda war against the President and his policy with all the force they can muster. They will never acknowledge any positive news from Iraq and will pounce on every bit of bad news no matter how small it may be. They will ignore any information coming from Iraq which demonstrates that Iraq is moving towards a more democratic and open form of government and that the President's plan is working, even if imperfectly.

They will certainly never entertain any sophisticated analysis of the events in the Middle East which would demonstrate how difficult and dangerous a job we have taken on. Nor will they admit how revolutionary is the basic strategy of changing the political climate of the Middle East in order to cut off terrorism at its root. They will only paint the issue in the most crude, cartoonish and emotional of terms in order to avoid any serious intellectual debate about the actual events taking place there. That is why they cannot and will not discuss the true nature of the inmates at Gitmo who are some of the worst people on Earth and who are getting treatment far better than they deserve. They cannot afford for Americans to see the conflict there in its wider context. They have to stress the message of utter failure even though any rational person can see this for the lie that it is. Rational people on the right side of the debate understand that the policy is risky and imperfect, but also necessary. We understand that it is the best available alternative and that surrender and failure in this war is not an option if we are to keep our freedom and safety intact. Democrats want us to forget this fact.

Second they want the Administration to pull out as fast as possible to make sure that the President's policy is indeed a failure. For nothing will guarantee its failure more quickly than the kind of "cut and run" policy advocated by The Angry Left. The Democrats forced us to abandon Vietnam back in the 70's by cutting off support and funding to the people of the south who wanted to keep their freedom. The result was the fall of the south to the communists and a bloodbath for the people of Vietnam. Today the Democrats want to re-play that history by abandoning the people of Iraq, who are now free because of American sacrifice, blood and treasure. The Democrats are willing to shove those people back into slavery and tyranny because The Angry Left that now controls their party is possessed by such savage hate, rage and resentment that they do not care about the millions of lives which would be put in peril as long as they can defeat the President and the voters he represents, (whom they also hate).

After all, if Dickhead Durbin thinks our own troops are Nazis, how much do you think he cares about the people of the Middle East who can't vote for him? I would say, not much. And since no Democrat I know of has a serious plan for dealing with the Middle East and the problem of terrorism, I think we can conclude that the party leadership doesn't much care either. In fact I think we can conclude that the Democrats have not thought seriously about this issue at all and in fact have been avoiding it altogether. It is a difficult problem and there are no easy solutions, so naturally the Democrats would rather snipe than think deeply about what we need to do and offer constructive alternatives that might be difficult and costly and come with a fair amount of risk attached.

When America has pulled out of Iraq and the Middle East, as the Democrats want us to do, and when the inevitable result is a return to tyranny and slavery for those people, the Democrats will go on TV and say, "See, we told you Bush was a failure and a liar! Vote for us instead of Republicans and we'll go back to the days before 9-11." This is their ultimate goal, and they don't care how many dead bodies have to pile up in order for them to achieve it, just as they did not care about the people of Vietnam. Back then they were driven by their hatred of Nixon; today they are driven by their hatred of George W. Bush. In both cases the facts of the situation and the need to act on them are utterly irrelevant to The Angry Left. Their only other lust is for the power which they have lost at the hands of the voters.

It is thus hate which ultimately guides the actions of today's Angry Left and the Democratic party which they now control. The lives of millions of people, both in the middle east as well as here in America are as nothing to them as long as they get what they want; the defeat of George W. Bush and all things Republican.

For what comes after, they have no plan, no answer and no thought. It is not reason which drives them, but plain, raw emotion. They must win, "no matter what."