Senator Lieberman, Democrat and Truth-Teller
Democrat and Senator, Joe Lieberman:
I have just returned from my fourth trip to Iraq in the past 17 months and can report real progress there. More work needs to be done, of course, but the Iraqi people are in reach of a watershed transformation from the primitive, killing tyranny of Saddam to modern, self-governing, self-securing nationhood–unless the great American military that has given them and us this unexpected opportunity is prematurely withdrawn.
Read the whole thing. It amazes me how two people can visit the same county and come away with such differing views of what is happening. Perhaps it is because one is interested in winning the war and the other is not.
Contrast this first paragraph with the opening paragraphs from Saturday’s op-ed by Anti-War Senator Joseph Biden:
The question most Americans want answered about Iraq is this: When will our troops come home?
We already know the likely answer. In 2006, they will begin to leave in large numbers. By the end of the year, we will have redeployed about 50,000. In 2007, a significant number of the remaining 100,000 will follow. A small force will stay behind — in Iraq or across the border — to strike at any concentration of terrorists.
That is because we cannot sustain 150,000 Americans in Iraq without extending deployment times, sending soldiers on fourth and fifth tours, or mobilizing the National Guard. Even if we could, our large military presence — while still the only guarantor against a total breakdown — is increasingly counterproductive. A liberation has become an occupation.
Biden, for what it’s worth, visited Iraq for the fifth time in June of this year.
What is the difference between these two editorials from US Senators of, nominally, the same party? One praises successes, acknowledges failures, notes how those failures have and could be constructively corrected, and looks to a better future. The other sideswipes the successes, focuses on failures and the blame for them, has but one proposal for addressing every failure, and says the only hope in Iraq is that it might not end disastrously.
It is pretty clear to me – as I hope it would be to all of you – that we are getting far from the whole story about Iraq’s growth and progress and that the story we are getting is purposefully distorted by our MSM and political opportunists like Senator Biden. That distortion has gotten so bad that when an editorial like Lieberman’s hits the presses, it’s a truly astonishing thing – like a beam of sunlight shining through a heavy overcast gloom.
I imagine that Senator Lieberman is going to catch holy hell from his party-mates for being so publicly optimistic about Iraq and for not advancing their “Bush Lied” and “Leave Iraq Now” talking points. I’m sure he can endure their petty fecal-flinging. After all, he’s the one with the courage.
It might not be a bad idea, though, to contact his office and thank him for telling us what’s really happening in Iraq and for risking the ire of the barking moonbats to do so.
No related posts.
Category: Fighting the Islamists, Our Foreign Policy, Political Pontifications
According to the Holy Spirit's message on The Christian Prophet blog this morning, Lieberman is a heroic light bringer to a very dark Democratic Party.
What should be most obvious to Jimmie, and appears to be overlooked in his comments, is “Politics as Usual”. Sen. Biden has presidential aspirations and Sen. Lieberman does not. That being said, I offer the following: Any two people given the same set of facts will often come to two very distinct and diverse conclusions, based not only on their personal point of view, but by what benefit they may derive in expressing it. It’s the old adage of the glass being half full or half empty. Given the current administrations lack of credibility, the revelations of intelligence failures and misinformation, poor planning at the onset, and an ambiguous exit strategy, both views bear equal consideration. Lest we forget, over two thousand brave Americans, our children and grandchildren, young husbands and fathers, have given their last full measure of devotion and it is our duty and responsibility, and that of our elected officials, to see that history bears out the merits of their sacrifice. Having served with distinction in Vietnam, in that ‘other’ war that caused such division and resentment in this country, I don’t want to see another generation gathered at a black granite wall in remembrance of those who died for naught. It is my hope, and I believe the hope of most Americans, that we will prevail. That the light of truth will shine through the gathering clouds of doom and, leaving politics, corporate greed and self interest aside, that their sacrifice will not have been in vain. I leave it to history to be the final judge.