Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) holds a news conference on Iraq on Capitol Hill in Washington April 16, 2007. REUTERS/Jim Young (UNITED STATES)

The above must be the oxymoronic photo of the week.


It is appalling, how ill-informed our Congressional leaders are. When Harry Reid said...

REID: He [Petraeus] said the war can't be won militarily. He said that. I mean he said it. He's the commander on the ground there.

BASH: But, sir, there's a difference...

REID: Are they critical of him?

BASH: ... between that and saying the war is lost, don't you think?

REID: Well, I — as I said, maybe it's a choice of words. I mean General Petraeus has said the war cannot be won militarily.

Doesn't every soldier going there know that he's said that?

I think so.

...was he actually listening to Petraeus, or media headlines that suffer selective hearing?

What General Petraeus actually said:

"Any student of history knows there is no military solution to a problem like that in Iraq, to the insurgency of Iraq," said Petraeus. "Military action is necessary to help improve security … but it is not sufficient."

When asked in the same interview if he would believe General Petraeus if the commander in Iraq were to give testimony contrary to what Reid has just said, Reid responded, "No." Unbelievable!

President Bush himself realizes that a military solution cannot "go it alone":

A successful strategy for Iraq goes beyond military operations. Ordinary Iraqi citizens must see that military operations are accompanied by visible improvements in their neighborhoods and communities. So America will hold the Iraqi government to the benchmarks it has announced.

Senate majority leader from the great state of denial, Harry Reid, also gave a false representation of the Iraq Study Group. But the troop surge was recommended as a viable part to an overall security plan. CJ provides the rebuttal quote:

Iraq Study Group Report: "We could, however, support a short-term redeployment or surge of American combat forces to stabilize Baghdad, or to speed up the training and equipping mission, if the U.S. commander in Iraq determines that such steps would be effective." ("The Iraq Study Group Report," 2006)

I'm short on time in doing better research (as well as responding to comments in previous posts, and making my rounds), but had to write something, quick. Senator Reid is just a loser on this, in so many ways. I wish I could respect all of our Congressional leaders, but I just can't. I feel nothing but contempt and anger. Lives are at stake, and I think it is the Senate Majority Leader and white flag politicians who endanger us all.

Excellent posts (to be updated, when I return from work):
California Conservative