Taylor Marsh – TaylorMarsh.com – News, Opinion and Weblog on Progressive Politics

DEMOCRATS TAKE DOWN Terror Guy

Democratic Senator Jack Reed, a graduate of West Point began, John Kerry followed. Two decorated veterans
talking about Iraq in response to the commander in chief, who has still not provided
a plan to get Iraq secure and us out. Reed and Kerry offered an aggressive,
detailed rebuttal of Bush.

There are three necessities to get Iraq stable: political (including regional
diplomacy), economic and military. Today, Bush only offered the military, because
that’s the only part on which he could offer any progress at all. But military
alone won’t come close to getting the job done. Repeating what we already know
about the military aspect of Iraq won’t either, which is what Bush did today.

Reed began by saying that Bush gave us more generalities today. The Senate
voted overwhelmingly for a plan to measure success, but the president still
hasn’t given us one. Bush failed to provide the realities of the Iraqi security
force. It’s much more difficult than Bush outlined. Iraq still doesn’t have
higher level officers who are loyal to the government in the Iraqi security
force.

What will be the cost on our troops to “stay the course”? We still
don’t know.

And considering we’ve been in Iraq for over 2 years, where are the political
and economic plans? What have we accomplished so far? We still don’t know.

The president failed to offer any real guide posts for “victory.”
So, nothing has changed.

All Americans are committed to our troops and defeating terrorism. But what
is the president’s plan?

Then John Kerry nailed it, saying that the president used the U.S. Naval Academy
as a backdrop. It reminded him of another p.r. stunt, the one that blared “mission
accomplished” on an aircraft carrier. Kerry stated that the president draws
a “false line,” saying that the troops do not belong to Bush’s point
of view. The troops are Americans and they believe in the mission. We all believe
in our troops. But the way you stand up for the troops is to give them plans
and make the right choices for them. Kerry is fighting for just that,
as is Jack Reed, Jack Murtha and other Democrats. It needed to be said.

Reed and Kerry: Again, simply stated, there still is not a coherent plan. The troops
deserve a coherent plan. We have stretched our military to an extreme point.
They need to know the plan as we go forward.

“This debate is not about an artificial
date for withdrawal,” which is a straw man, said Kerry.
The Senate had a vote, and it didn’t seek an artificial date for withdrawal.
What we want is an “estimated timetable for success.”
No one is talking about running from “car bombers and assassins.”
It’s ridiculous to assert anyone in America wants that.

Every Democrat supports the December 15th elections. The success of those elections
provides a benchmark for withdrawing, if the elections are successful.

Kerry then brought up General Casey’s statements that outline that it is our
troops’ presence that is inspiring more terrorism. The Iraqis, 80% of them, want us to reduce
our presence. But the president still won’t admit that our presence
in Iraq is keeping the insurgency alive.

“A strategy for exit is part of the strategy
for success … they go hand in hand,” Senator John Kerry concluded.