California Conservative

Bottom Line Up Front:  Sen. Harry Reid is bitterly hunkering down demanding defeat in Iraq whether victory is inevitable or not.

Democrat and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid gave a speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC, yesterday, co-hosted by Third Way  and Lee Hamilton of the Iraq Study Group and 9/11 Commission introduced Harry Reid after a brief opening. (transcript of speech)  View video/excerpts of the speech HERE.

**Hot Air has video of Sen. Reid in an interview on CNN asserting arrogantly that GEN Petraeus has said the war is lost/cannot be won militarily and that Reid will not believe Petraeus if he gives testimony to the contrary tomorrow before the Congress.

What does a collaborative effort between the likes of Third Way, Lee Hamilton and Harry Reid tell you? That the Iraq Study Group and 9/11 Commission weren’t exactly bi-partisan nor unbiased.

In this unbelievably depressing speech, Reid referred to the our global effort to combat terrorism as the “so-called war on terror” and went on to mock the President’s use of the word “progress” at a briefing on Iraq. He quoted Bush as saying that the “direction of the fight is beginning to shift” and that “so far the operation (surge) is meeting expectations.”

GEN Petraeus has been saying for months that he expected a spike in violence after the announcement of the surge. Tactically this is totally predictable. There is no doubt that things are difficult in Iraq, but to paint the entire country as a loss is erroneous.   In fact, GEN Petraeus said about the expected rise of violence due to the surge: 

“Regrettably, some of these groups are still carrying out their barbaric acts.  In fact, we believe that they have sought to intensify their sensational attacks in recent weeks to provoke renewed sectarian violence and derail [the operation] before it can be fully implemented.”

Petraeus also described why we shouldn’t be surprised by the violence in Iraq:

In this environment, Iraq’s new government, its fourth in three and a half years, has found it difficult to gain traction. Though disappointing, this should not be a surprise. We should recall that after the liberation of Iraq in 2003, every governmental institution in the country collapsed. A society already traumatized by decades of Saddam’s brutal rule was thrown into complete turmoil, and the effects are still evident throughout the country and in Iraqi society.

Reid went on to say that 70% of Iraqi children are traumatized, experiencing nightmares and bedwetting, “could paralyze an entire generation that we’ve been counting on to harvest the seeds of democracy.”  How those statistics were arrived at or where they originated from, Reid did not say, but Reid’s credibility on caring about the next generation of Iraqi children is implausible at best.  His plan to withdraw troops, leaving the region open to ethnic cleansing and mass murder makes him a less than believable spokesman for the Iraqi children. 

Not only this, but his repeated insistence that the war should never have happened indicates he presumes Iraqi children would be more psychologically healthy under an Iraq run by Uday and Quasay Hussein. 

Reid went to in his speech to criticize the Iraqi people for not taking responsibility by now but admitted that:

“It is unquestioned that we have long term interest in seeing Iraq become stabilized, peaceful, and yes, one day a functioning democracy.”

He, along with the rest of the Democratic Party, have been unable to explain how the U.S. would contribute to this “stabilized, peaceful and democratic” Iraq by leaving within a year and allow al-Qaeda hold the country hostage through violence and extremist religious beliefs.

Reids “solution” includes a “surge” in diplomacy, bringing “waring factions to the negotiating table”, “training and equipping Iraqi security forces and conducting counter terrorism operations” (which is what the U.S. is ALREADY DOING), and insists on a “phased redeployment of troops beginning no later than Oct. 1 2007, with all troops out of Iraq by by April 1, 2008” with a few exceptions.

Reid ridiculed Vice President Cheney asserting he was wrong about WMD, the U.S. being greeted as liberators and an al-Qaeda/Saddam link.   We know that Saddam had the capability to make WMD, although he didn’t possess stockpiles, that the U.S. was greeted as a liberating force and that the Defense Department’s Inspector General reported before the Senate Armed Services committee that  the Bush Administration did not exaggerate intelligence to make a case for war.  The Inspector General also showed that while Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein’s relationship was not symbiotic, there was indeed a relationship. 

“No one in my office ever claimed there was an operational relationship. There was a relationship.”

On the question of leaving Iraq to chaos and genocidal war, Reid’s reply is what has become the standard regurgitated deflection:

“We already have a civil war and there’s already violence.” Gulp.

Instead of blaming the terrorists for disrupting basic services and rallying around the good guys (perhaps because he doesn’t know who the good guys are), Reid blames the good guys for the easiest of attacks: suicide bombings.

WHAT REID DIDN’T SAY

Senator Reid did not mention in his speech that:

The White House already corrected Reid’s record of errors about the war in Iraq.

SOLDIERS FROM HIS OWN STATE OF NEVADA REJECT HIS ASSERTION THAT THE WAR IS ‘LOST’

THAT SOLDIERS IN THE FIELD SOUNDLY REJECT REID’S ASSERTION AND CONDEMN HIS DEFEATIST LANGUAGE

GEN Petraeus has called Operation Iraqi Freedom an “honorable mission” , not a lost cause.

GEN Petraeus praised entrepreneurialism in Iraq.

GEN Pace said our enemies see the “debate in the Congress as a sign of weakness as opposed to a sign of strength.”

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said:  

“We see no need for a withdrawal timetable because we are working as fast as we can. We feel what will govern the departure of international forces are the achievements and victories we manage to achieve on the ground, not a timetable.”

The Iraqi Parliament unified against terrorists after the Green Zone bombing.

 Bill Clinton signed into law the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998, saying, “I categorically reject arguments that this (a free and democratic Iraq) is unattainable due to Iraq’s history or its ethnic or sectarian make-up. Iraqis deserve and desire freedom like everyone else.”

CNN War Correspondent Michael Ware agrees that a deadline for withdrawal…

“absolutely would play completely into the hands of America’s identified enemies, al-Qaeda and Iran. That would be handing the entire advantage to them. That’s why that can never really happen.”

“We saw from 2003, the Baathist insurgents saying from the beginning, ‘this war will not be one on the battlefield, it will be won on that, pointing to a TV screen’.”

ABC War Correspondent Reported the Surge working in Baghdad

Outgoing U.S. Ambassador Dr. Zalmay Khalilzad reported that ‘Iraqis Are Uniting Against al-Qaeda’

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki made an historic and unprecedented visit to al-Anbar province, helping bridge the gap between Sunnis and Shia Iraqis, who continue to unit against al-Qaeda. 

There’s hope on Haifa Street

Al-Sadr fled to Iran to avoid the troop surge and his front men in the Parliament overwhelmingly rejected his call to resign with only 6 stepping down in opposition to al-Maliki and 30 reminaing. 

Multi-National Force-Iraq commanding general Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hunzeker praised Iraqi police as courageous, committed and well-trained.

But let’s side with arrogant politicians in the House and Senate over US troops, their commanders, Iraqi officials and forces and embeds with the military.  We know these Democrats’ agendas supersede the facts.  This rude, snarky Senator is doing his country a huge disservice, and our enemy a favor.

Cross-posted @: Bottom Line Up Front

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 24th, 2007 at 12:45 pm and is filed under Author: Amy Proctor, Foreign Policy, Iraq, Military. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.