...does the left stand on anything?
"It's time to bring them home." -John Murtha
"Last month, I introduced Senate Joint Resolution 36 which calls for the withdrawal of our combat troops from Iraq by the end of this year." -John Kerry
"We say bring the troops home now!" -Cindy Sheehan
Finally, Republicans have their own cut'n'run plan
By Molly Ivins
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Salt Lake Tribune
AUSTIN, Texas - And then along comes Cut'n'Run Casey. We spend all last week listening to cut'n'run Democrats talking about their cut'n'run strategy for Iraq, and the only issue is whether they want to cut'n'run by the end of this year or to cut'n'run by the end of next year, and oh, by the way, did I mention that Republicans had been choreographed to refer to the Democrats' plans as cut'n'run?
As Vice President Dick (''Last Throes'') Cheney said Thursday, redeployment of our troops would be ''the worst possible thing we could do. . . . No matter how you carve it - you can call it anything you want - but basically it is packing it in, going home, persuading and convincing and validating the theory that the Americans don't have the stomach for this fight.''
Then right in the middle of Cut'n'Run Week, the top American commander in Iraq, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., held a classified briefing at the Pentagon and revealed his plan to reduce the 14 combat brigades now in Iraq to five or six. And here's the best part: Rather than wait 'til the end of this year or, heaven forefend, next year, Casey wants to start moving those troops out in September, just before whatever it is that happens in early November. They don't call him George W. Jr. for nothing.
One has to admit, the party never ends with the Bush administration. The only question about Cut'n'Run Week is whether they meant to punctuate a weeklong festival of referring to Democrats as the party of ''retreat'' and ''the white flag'' with this rather abrupt announcement of their own cut'n'run program. Was it an error of timing?
I say no. I say Karl Rove doesn't make timing mistakes. This administration thoroughly believes the media and the people have a collective recollection of no more than one day. Five days of cut'n'run, one day off and BAM, you get your own cut'n'run plan out there.
"Instead of offering real strategies for success, Republicans continue to play politics with this war. When it comes to Iraq, the only schedule that matters to Republicans is the U.S. election schedule" -Nancy Pelosi
So do they want the troops home or not - or just not in time to give Republicans an election boost? What kind of chutzpah does it take to demand Bush bring the troops home - so long as it's either immediately or after the election? Sounds to me like more evidence that the left is more concerned with power than the lives of our military heroes.
Steve |
