Don’t Stop Until We’re Out of Iraq
17 November 2007 8:00 am by Taylor Marsh
Our national security depends on it.
It has been two long months since Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander
in Iraq, cowed Congressional Democrats into silence, championing President
Bush’s misguided course on the war. We’re pleased to see that
the effects of his briefing are finally wearing off. The bad news, as ever,
is that Mr. Bush and his Republican allies continue to resist reason.House Democrats distinguished themselves this week when they stood up to
the White House’s latest military funding steamroller: approving only
$50 million of the additional $196 million the president requested for the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They also set conditions on the funding, including
demands that troops start coming home from Iraq within 30 days and that the
withdrawal be completed by mid-December 2008.Senate Democrats quickly brought the House plan to the floor. But, ever the
spoilers, Republicans blocked it, as they have other attempts to rein in Mr.
Bush’s war-without-end in Iraq.Predictably, the White House — which always prefers fear-mongering
to serious debate — accused Democrats of undermining the troops.(snip)
Even Mr. Bush’s generals know that these gains are unlikely to last.
The Washington Post’s Thomas Ricks reported this week that senior American
commanders now see the intransigence of Iraq’s Shiite-dominated government
as the key threat facing the American effort in Iraq — rather than Al
Qaeda terrorists, Sunni insurgents or Iranian-backed militias. America can’t
want peace and democracy for Iraq more than the Iraqis.Democrats say they will continue to push the president and his Republican
allies to concede their failed war policy and change course. They must keep
at it. It’s far past time to begin a swift and orderly withdrawal of
forces from Iraq’s civil war and to refocus on Afghanistan, where America’s
win over the Taliban and Al Qaeda is in danger of being reversed.
You’re hearing it a lot now. “Joe is right.” Long before people started paying real attention to Joe Biden in the campaign, this blog invited his team and Senator Biden in to talk about national security. Now Joe Biden is getting real buzz, even on the blogs. He deserves it. He’s earned it. It’s long overdue. I’m proud that he had a place here to speak out and talk to you from the beginning of the campaign. It’s because you all are smart and understood from the start that he was telling the truth and had something important to say on Iraq and beyond. His post on Pakistan is important, not to mention critical to our national security. The video above is from earlier this year. It’s as powerful and true today as it was back then. Joe Biden not only campaigns, but he actually offers serious solutions. We need his guidance on national security and foreign policy matters more than ever today.
