O’Hanlon, Pollack Giving Reid, Pelosi, Murtha Headaches
The Democrats’ worst nightmare is having the NY Times saying that Iraq can be won. Today, their worst nightmare came true thanks to this op-ed by Michael O’Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack. This paragraph should be especially troubling to John Murtha and his fellow defeatists:
Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand: We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms. As two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration’s miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily “victory” but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis could live with.
Rush spent most of the first hour of his show talking about this op-ed and about a roundtable discussion on Chris Matthews’ Sunday Show where David Ignatius said that the cost of pulling out precipitously could cause a tenfold increase in civilian casualties. Rush said that you could just imagine Nancy Pelosi’s face cracking upon hearing this. I wholeheartedly agree. This is awful news for Democrats because they’re totally invested in defeat.
They’ve bet the ranch on perceived defeat in Iraq. I’ve said before that the worst thing for Democrats isn’t good news from Iraq. A Democrat’s worst nightmare is good news from Iraq that’s splashed across the front page of the NY Times. That’s why I called this op-ed the Democrats’ worst nightmare.
Here’s another bit of information Democrats don’t want people to hear:
After the furnace-like heat, the first thing you notice when you land in Baghdad is the morale of our troops. In previous trips to Iraq we often found American troops angry and frustrated, many sensed they had the wrong strategy, were using the wrong tactics and were risking their lives in pursuit of an approach that could not work.
Today, morale is high. The soldiers and marines told us they feel that they now have a superb commander in Gen. David Petraeus; they are confident in his strategy, they see real results, and they feel now they have the numbers needed to make a real difference.
This news is making its way around everywhere. Rush is talking about it. high profile bloggers like Powerline, Captains Quarters, Gateway Pundit, Hugh Hewitt and Instapundit are commenting on this. Rest assured that Hannity will talk extensively about this starting at 2:00 pm CDT. I expect that they’ll also talk about it on the Roundtable on Special Report.
The thing that stands out here is that Mssrs. O’Hanlon and Pollack aren’t just saying that events on the ground are changing for the better but also that the military has total confidence in Gen. Petraeus. Troop morale is soaring as a direct result of Gen. Petraeus’ leadership and brilliant planning. I’ve said from dawn till dusk day after day that Gen. Petraeus knew what he was doing in fighting a counterinsurgency war. The events of the last six weeks are proving that he’s a brilliant strategist in defeating insurgencies.
In Ramadi, for example, we talked with an outstanding Marine captain whose company was living in harmony in a complex with a (largely Sunni) Iraqi police company and a (largely Shiite) Iraqi Army unit. He and his men had built an Arab-style living room, where he met with the local Sunni sheiks, all formerly allies of Al Qaeda and other jihadist groups, who were now competing to secure his friendship.
So much for Murtha’s talking about US soldiers being caught in the middle of a civil war. If they’re working together in armed combat, why would they shoot each other when they aren’t part of the military?
The bottom line is that Democrats are feeling jittery after this op-ed. I suspect that the media’s talking about positive developments has everything to do with cutting Barack Obama’s legs out from under him and to give Hillary room to play a ‘moderate’ on the war.
Technorati Tags: John Murtha, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Hillary, Obama, David Petraeus, Troop Morale, The Surge, Election 2008
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog
July 30th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
Reid is alredy spinning his little butt off.
“While the Democratically controlled Congress has already demonstrated we will give our troops the critical resources they need, the facts are clear: Throughout this war, Democrats have had to force the President and Congressional Republicans to provide our troops adequate body armor, well-earned pay raises, and the health care they deserve when they return home. Just as importantly, we have repeatedly put forward a strategy for success in Iraq that will enhance our security.
“The President’s call today to pressure Congress to quickly complete a defense spending bill that does not take effect until October is simply the latest example of the President shamelessly hiding behind our brave troops in an effort to distract attention from his failed national security record and failed conduct of this war. It is time for the President and the Republicans to do more than just say the right thing – it is time they worked with us for the good of the country and our security. If the President and Republicans were as committed to this priority as they profess to be, they would not have placed our troops in harm’s way without a strategy for success or the equipment and support they need to do their mission.”
July 30th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
“Just as importantly, we have repeatedly put forward a strategy for success in Iraq that will enhance our security.”
Oh, really? Abject surrender and running like a coward is a strategy for success? He must have a different Funk & Wagnell than I do.
I’m still not convinced that the “Little Caesar” we have for a prez won’t step in and screw it up as badly as he already has, but at least we now know the fight can be won. If the politicians will just stay out of it.
July 30th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
OK Carlos, I’ll bite.
Little Ceasar lost the War before he won it? You had better be careful or the swifties will git u2…
It must be a dhimmicrat disease, fortunately it’s terminal….
July 31st, 2007 at 11:42 am
It never has been about winning any war with them; its been about the polls, amd 200.
When Bush was riding high in the numbers and he country was in a mood for it, they all went along with it, especially the worlds most imntelligent woman, when the war stumbled and Bush’s numbers went down, the smell of blood was too much for them to resist. Now that it might be turning around,
Ried is trying to say “See I told you so, you should have listened to us”.
I bet he was the kid that held the coats for the playground fist fights back in good old Searchlight.
July 31st, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Mitch,
Napoleon was “Little Caesar”, an incompetent military hack. Had he let his military leaders run his wars there may have been a completely different European (and consequently American) history.
It just seems like, after Eisenhower, every prez (and his advisors) has felt he knew more about military tactics than the ones trained in military warfare. Bush, Cheney, Rove et al have screwed up Iraq almost beyond recognition, but it’s better than waving the white French flag of “victory” the donkeys always want.
My comment was only meant to indicate that the objective (pacify and democratize Iraq) could have been achieved by now had our “leaders” let the experts (military people) run the war instead of the pollsters.
May 9th, 2008 at 5:03 am
it is a what effect will never my and foxes that day. were the best, they had