Blue Dog Dems Take Responsibility for Iraq
08 March 2007 7:00 am by Taylor Marsh
Blue Dog Dems Take Responsibility for Iraq
Lovely.
Some Democratic congressmen and women (one would suspect, though I don\’t have
the full list) have decided keeping their jobs is more important than doing
their jobs. It\’s always special when a politician puts him or herself above
what the nation wants. Critical that a congressperson saves his/her own butt,
rather than looking out for what\’s best for our country and our Armed Forces
in the long run.
As the Democrats meet to discuss Iraq, they\’re fighting each other instead. Have some Democrats already forgotten the election? Maybe, but others clearly have not.
This just burns.
Many Blue Dogs and other moderates are still wary of her, they say privately,
concerned that Pelosi\’s liberal views and tendency to side with her mostly
left-of- center confidants could earn their party an extremist image that
will cost them their seats and Democrats the majority.(snip)
\”Iraq is a good example,\” Boyd said. \”The majority of the
caucus would say, \’Let\’s be really strong in forcing the president out of
here.\’ Well, some of us are really uncomfortable playing general, and you\’re
going to see that reflected in what we vote on.\”The more sizable liberal wing of the party is chafing at the Blue Dogs\’ influence.
(snip)
But party officials argue that those more liberal newcomers are not in competitive
seats, and that their supporters are unlikely to forsake Democrats in 2008,
when they will be highly motivated to turn out to try to wrest the presidency
from Republicans.The same can\’t be said of the first-term Blue Dogs, many of whom are already
preparing for tough re-election fights.
More like conservative Democrats assert their stupidity.
The Blue Dog Democrats may not want to play general, but instead, by refusing
to face reality on Iraq, they are deciding to play Army secretary and doom our
soldiers to interminable stop-loss action while they continue to fight in the
middle of a civil war. The National Guard is the other casualty. That they\’re
also providing cover for Mr. Bush is only part of the reason this is so infuriating.
The fact that their own re-election is uppermost in their minds is as self-centered
as it comes. Besides, if they won\’t vote to get out of Iraq when the majority
of America wants just that, what good is it getting Democrats elected?
A Democratic foreign policy push is imperative to continue to shift the foreign
policy focus of this country away from the policy that has fallen apart in Iraq.
Waging war is what the Republicans do best. In fact, it\’s the only thing they
do. By supporting the escalation, the Blue Dog Democrats in the House are squelching
the importance of diplomacy and undermining the very nature of Democratic foreign
policy ideas.
Mr. Boyd and
his Blue Dogs may be \”uncomfortable playing general,\” but they
and these so called \”party officials\” need to understand that Democrats
weren\’t elected in November to appease Mr. Bush. In doing so, the Blue Dogs
join Harry Reid and Joe Lieberman in taking responsibility for the Iraq war.
In addition, the Blue Dogs also now have to face the reality that they now own the feckless foreign policy that begins in Iraq and is lacking in diplomatic efforts, which is ruining our Armed Forces strength. Do the Blue Dogs really
believe by supporting the escalation they\’re doing our country any good? Can\’t wait to see their plan when the Taliban opens a serious front in Afghanistan after the thaw.
The Blue Dogs are stretching our forces beyond what\’s safe for this country.
They\’re prolonging the fight and ignoring the need for diplomacy now.
They\’re killing our first responder National Guard troops with extended
tours, which means families suffer, too.
They\’re pushing back the timeline for when the regional players get involved, because there is little urgency when we\’re at maximum support.
In other words, they\’re wrong. They don\’t have to play general,
but they would do well to listen to them, because the majority of the military
think escalation in Iraq is a bad idea. Oh, and so
do the American people.
