We must realize that foreign policy in the modern world does not lend itself to easy, simple black and white solutions. If we were to have diplomatic relations only with those countries whose principles we approve of, we would have relations with very few countries in a very short time ... If we were to treat foreign policy merely as a medium for delivering self-righteous sermons to supposedly inferior people, we would give up all thought of world influence or world leadership.
President Obama is going to need all the support he can possibly get from wherever he can get it if he intends to follow through on his commitment to extricate our troops from a war they never should have been sent to fight.
It's not hard to imagine the intense pressure President Obama is going to face from within and without his Administration to prolong the sacrifices of our troops. The warmongers in the Defense Department, aided by their faithful private sector boosters like SAIC, can propose, seemingly without end, military solutions to a problem that, by now should be obvious to all those who don't have a conflict of interest, can't be solved militarily.
It is way too risky to take Gerry Connolly's word that with his votes he'd support President Obama against the warmongers. Unlike Leslie Byrne, Connolly has never publicly stated an antiwar position until very recently, when it seems as if it's in his political interest to do so. In fact, by taking a paycheck from, and taking actions to further the interests of, one of the biggest warmongers among the defense contractors, SAIC, it's much more reasonable to assume that Connolly will at best be one of those Democrats who must himself be pressured to vote to support President Obama's efforts for peace.
There is absolutely no reason to believe that Byrne won't be a leader for peace among House Democrats. She's been loudly and proudly antiwar from before the war even began and was among the earliest signers of the Responsible Plan to End the War. Moreover, it almost goes without saying that Byrne has no conflicts of interest that might cause her to hold back on making ending the war the first priority of President Obama's first term.
Ending the war is not only the moral thing to do, it will make us safer and it will make us more prosperous. George Bush's completely fabricated Global War on Terror conveniently enabled the Republicans to obstruct all efforts to address our real priorities, because, as even the Republicans now admit, they have no ideas to address (and I'd argue no real interest in addressing) the real priorities of a growing majority of Americans.
As it would be a huge mistake for Americans to elect John McCain who, in all likelihood, will deliver more of the same, when we can elect Barack Obama who can deliver the change we need, it would be a huge mistake for voters in VA-11's Democratic Primary on June 10 to vote for Gerry Connolly who, in all likelihood, will be only marginally better than Tom Davis, especially when we have the opportunity to nominate Leslie Byrne, who can be an important driver of the change we need.