The GOP is racing to get out of Iraq, emotionally. Ohio Republican Deborah Pryce, is the latest in a string of leaders distancing themselves from the war, in an ongoing fight to see who can support the troops the least.
The war in Iraq now polls so badly that people like Mrs. Pryce are withdrawing from Iraq, emotionally, even if they have openly supported it for years. Pryce made the attempt by telling CNN Radio, "What's happening in Iraq is not a direct reflection on me."
This is akin to a political cut and run in the final days of the 2006 campaign. People like Mrs. Pryce are essentially saying: I voted for the war, I supported the war, but now that 60% of Americans are against the idea I want them to know the war has no reflection on me. This is, of course, insane talk.
I believe the Iraq was is a direct reflection on all of us. It is certainly how the world views us, (Ah, that pesky world....), it's certainly carrying a steep price tag in lives and dollars, and I believe your opinion on the war is a direct link to your discernment.
You certainly can't be in favor of the war, and put your own pro-war speeches on your web page, and then try to sell the lie that the war is no reflection on you. You certainly can't ask the American people to give their sons and daughters for the cause, to give billions of dollars for the cause, and then ask that they not debate the war...can you?
"I voted to give the president the authority to use force in Iraq; that doesn't mean I'm always happy with what I see, but I can think of nothing worse for our troops or our prospects for success than having 435 members of Congress second-guessing our commanders," Pryce wrote.
I can think of a few things worse for our troops:
1. Believing that debating the war is harmful to the troops.
2. Sending the troops into a war that can't be openly debated.
3. Sending the troops into a war in such a state that we can't debate openly in front of them
4. Sending the troops into a war with no exit strategy
5. Accepting vague and unmeasurable benchmarks as an exit strategy
6. Sidelining someone like Colin Powell (who actually has fought a war with Iraq)
7. Supporting those who told us that Iraq was a grave threat
8. Showing no signs of discernment or hindsight while conducing the war
9. Supporting those who said they had a plan to keep America safe, which involved sending troops to Iraq, and are now admitting that plan really sucks
10. Supporting those who would rather support Don Rumsfeld then the commanders
11. Really believing that Iraq is the central front in the war on terror
12. Believing that doing anything else in Iraq, other than what we are currently doing, means "losing" in Iraq.
13. Really believing that fighting the terrorists in Iraq means we don't have to fight them in "every street in America"
14. Letting Dick Cheney speak.
15. Saying things like "losing" or "coward" or rubber stamping for those who do
16. Letting troops fight in Iraq for freedom and then trying to keep freedoms from Americans...doesn't that kind of negate what they're doing in Iraq?
17. Getting the troops stuck in Iraq while North Korea builds a nuclear weapon. Nice move.
18. Raising defect spending on the war because of reasons 1 through 12, which our troops will have to pay off
19. Swiftboating someone a vet like John Kerry, or supporting those who do
20. Using the war in Iraq to get elected then saying it has no reflection on you
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