TIME FOR BUSH TO CRACK THE WHIP
Several Republican lawmakers recently have come out and in direct opposition to the view of the White House are saying that it’s time to set a timetable to get out of Iraq.
Congressmen are a lot like teenagers; someone sets a style and the rest of them follow. Here’s Representative Walter Jones (R-N):
“I voted for the resolution to commit the troops, and I feel that we’ve done about as much as we can do,” said Jones, who coined the phrase “freedom fries” to lash out at the French for opposing the Iraq invasion.
Jones, a member of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, said “primarily the neoconservatives” in the administration were to blame for flawed war planning.
Senator Lindsey Graham, who only recently saved the Republic by being out front on the judicial compromise, has now also decided to abandon the leader of his party, his President, and I would guess a majority of his constituents:
“The insurgency is alive and well. We underestimated the viability of the insurgency,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said on CBS’ Face the Nation. He said the administration has “been slow to adjust when it comes to troop strength and supporting our troops.”
Graham said the Army is contending with a serious shortfall in recruiting “because this war is going sour in terms of word of mouth from parents and grandparents.” He said “if we don’t adjust, public opinion is going to keep slipping away.”
I can smell the panic from here.
Unlike Viet Nam, this country is so wired with wall to wall cable and internet news that this type of Congressional insurgency won’t take years or months to ripen, but rather days. The President has to nip this in the bud now or risk losing Congressional support for the Iraq war.
Notice how Mr. Jones blames the “neocons.” Perhaps he can enlighten us with a few names? Or would that have horned in on his face time on TV?
And did someone ever explain to Lindsey Graham the delicate balance that has to be maintained between a sufficient number of troops to do the job and an overbearing, overwhelming presence that would have complicated matters enormously?
Someone should also tell Graham that the President ran better in South Carolina than his very conservative Senate colleague Jim DeMint. Although the Senator is not up for reelection until 2008, my guess would be conservatives in the Palmetto State have very long memories.
I have absolutely no doubt that post-war planning in Iraq was all wrong, that we should have anticipated some kind of insurgency aided and abetted by foreign powers and that the disbanding or “De-Baathification” of the Iraqi army was a gigantic mistake.
All that being said, these are exactly the kind of things that happen in wars. And I would say to Republican Congressmen “Deal with it.” We’re barely two years into an occupation that appeared to be a 5 year mission the day after Baghdad fell. This is hardly the time to start running away from the President and into the arms of the far left. But that’s what Messrs. Graham and Jones are doing.
Jeff Goldstein has been running his “Overheard in an Insurgent Bunker” series for more than a year. What do you think the insurgents are saying to each other today? I’ll bet you a dollar to navy beans that their “hope” factor just shot up several notches.
What the hell is wrong with these people? But I do trust in our Commander in Chief. President Bush will either whip these wimps in to line or he will see to it that they become Daschled in ‘06.
Comment by diamond — 6/13/2005 @ 5:40 pm
Lindsey Graham says:
“because this war is going sour in terms of word of mouth from parents and grandparents.” He said “if we don’t adjust, public opinion is going to keep slipping away”.
It is going south from parents and grandparents because of spineless vote hungry bastards like Graham who, like water, take the path of least resistance. If he, and others like him would have the gonads to stand up and support this task for the duration instead of caving when things don’t go the way they want it, we could win this war.
Does anyone else think that maybe, just maybe, the current “insurgent” problem wouldn’t be as bad if we hadn’t given in to leftist demands and given the terrorists a year to get ready?
This only confirms my fear that we WILL lose this war, and I don’t mean only Iraq.
Comment by Marv — 6/13/2005 @ 6:25 pm
I simply don’t understand Graham. Some of the Seven RINO Dwarfs are easy. McCain: that’s simply Payback For 2000, Part Deux. Most of the rest of these boobs and boobettes are either playing to their deep and troubled souls (yearight, how quickly they forget - the whole point of that cluster of Wide Awakes posts last Sunday!) or to their polls (in which case, they’ve just refused to learn the Bush 2004 lesson). I can vaguely understand running left of Bush in a place like Maine or RI… even IA. but in SC?!?
And message to Prez: Yes, Bush, we gave you lots of political capital. Don’t spend it all in one place, ya hear?
Comment by The MaryHunter — 6/13/2005 @ 10:34 pm
“Although the Senator is not up for reelection until 2008, my guess would be conservatives in the Palmetto State have very long memories.”
You can bet this Palmetto State conservative has a very long memory, and when it comes to Lindsey Graham’s antics of late, a very short fuse!
Comment by Barry — 6/13/2005 @ 10:43 pm
Limp Reps Throwing Away 1700 Lives
America sent our military men and women into Iraq to change the world and stem the tied of Islamic fascism. To date this valient effort has cost 1700 lives and numerous damaged lives and bodies. Now some weak-kneed republicans want to throw all this…
Trackback by The Strata-Sphere — 6/13/2005 @ 11:18 pm
Quick Shots: Clueless in Seattle
AJStrata wonders what happened to the spine of some of our esteemed representatives; more on that subject from the aforementioned Rick Moran, who believes it’s time to crack the whip…
Trackback by Decision '08 — 6/14/2005 @ 7:04 am
It is time to set a timetable for withdrawl from the Phillipines. Then Germany. Then South Korea. Then Japan. France kicked us out a long time ago.
Iraq is a long ways in the future for withdrawl. A lot of other countries come first!
Comment by Tom Johnson — 6/16/2005 @ 6:24 pm
adult chat network…
TIME FOR BUSH TO CRACK THE WHIP…
Trackback by adult chat network — 9/22/2007 @ 3:38 am