Dazed and Confused on Iraq

The damaging power of Democratic convictions.

Rich Lowry brings us a roundup of recent Defeatocrat gymnastics in this essay from The National Review. With the large turnout in the latest round of Iraqi elections, the President's strategy for the Middle East continues to unfold in the direction of democratic reform, just as it was originally envisioned. The road up to this point has not been easy, and certainly not without sacrifice. But President Bush, and the administration, have maintained a confidence in the possibility of a more democratic Middle East and have put that idea to the test in the real world. Now we are seeing the product of that vision in form of Iraqi elections, and slow but steady movement towards reform in much of the rest of the region.

Meanwhile the Defeatocrats have thrashed around from one bizarre position on the war to the next in a desperate attempt to undermine the President, get the public on the side of defeat and thus to get their own power back. Their attempts have not exactly been an outstanding success. When top members of the party like Sen. Kerry falsely claim our troop are "terrorizing" the Iraqi people, when John Murtha calls for immediate surrender and Howard Dean declares the war lost, one does not get the impression of a party with strength or confidence in the arena of foreign affairs. And indeed, one wonders whether the Defeatocrats and the Angry Left will ever be able to recover from this self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.