RK ARCHIVE - ANALYSIS: Ask "Has the war in Iraq limited our options on Iran and North Korea?"

This question is a huge vulnerability to GOP Neocons and especially to Bush rubber stamp "neoconservative" GOP candidates running this year who have rubber stamped Bush on the Iraq war.

I put four transcripts below of top GOP Neocons who when publicly asked a version of that question just could not answer it. The links are provided and these people are all directly quoted "right from the horse's mouth!"

Newt Gingrich just gave a one line stupid answer "Only in, only in our own minds." George Allen and Nicholas Burns talked about almost everything else other than an answer to it when they were asked that question (they "filibustered" their time), and Rush Limbaugh when quoting many journalists who were asking that question said:

"Literal idiots. And these are the people in the Drive-By Media with such a narrow focus. They have missed the problem with one letter. The problem is Iran. It is not Iraq, folks. The problem is Iran."

No Rush Limbaugh, you missed the problem. It is because that we are so bogged down in Iraq (which was a war of choice because Saddam Hussein was contained at the start of that war) that our military options are very limited now with Iran, North Korea, The Middle East, and with any other world crisis that might come up!

This is why the question "Has the war in Iraq limited our options on Iran, North Korea?" needs to be asked by Democratic candidates constantly (especially in public debates, in campaign e mails, and in front of the media) and that is also why their Bush rubber stamp Neocon GOP opponents need to have their feet held to the fire regarding that question by Democratic candidates no matter how hard they try to get out of answering it!

There is no credible answer to that question for a GOP Neocon. The evidence for that is right below where you can clearly see that Newt Gingrich, George Allen, Nicholas Burns, and Rush Limbaugh could not give a straight answer to it. You can be the judge of that for yourself after reading their direct answers to that question!

Please forward this on so that more people and Democratic candidates will start asking this question on a regular basis in public and to the media because that is how we can win over many more impressionable voters who are listening to GOP Neocon spin and rhetoric!

That is something that can help Democratic candidates get more votes which will increase the chances of Democrats taking back power in at least one branch of Congress in 2006 which will help to restore real accountability back to government before 2008!

An excellent example for all of us to follow and what we all need to be doing to help fight against extreme right wing Neocon smear propaganda which will help our local candidates to win their races!
http://securingamerica.com/webb
Gen. Wes Clark's endorsement of Jim Webb against George Allen

WALLACE: Senator Dodd (sic), let me just take a slightly different look at this.

And you can respond to Senator Dodd in the course of your answer, which I'm sure you will. Are we so bogged down now in Iraq that these rogue nations look at the situation and no longer take seriously the Bush doctrine of preemptive action?

ALLEN: Well, our resolve and willingness to succeed in Iraq does have an implication. The rest of the world is looking. Is the United States going to have +óGé¼GÇ¥ are we going to be surrendering? Are we going to be retreating? Are we going to be tucking tail and leaving? Or are we going to stick with it and help...

ALLEN: Iran and Hezbollah has been a problem since they +óGé¼GÇ¥ in Lebanon, as Chris said +óGé¼GÇ¥ that's right +óGé¼GÇ¥ since 1983, when they hit the Marine barracks. They've been a problem in the 1990s. They hit Israeli embassies in Argentina. They have hit not just the U.S. They've hit European countries and Asian countries as well.

In fact, our administration and the United States is not going it alone. Look, the six-party talks insofar as North Korea +óGé¼GÇ¥ the reality is the only one who can stop North Korea from doing anything that is untoward and provocative is China.

And the fact that China did not stop North Korea from launching those missiles is very telling insofar as the credibility and willingness of China, who provides the sustenance and all of the nourishment North Korea needs to survive. If it weren't for China, North Korea couldn't survive.

In Iran, as far as Iran is concerned, obviously, we're trying to get others in it. If we have embargoes or sanctions, U.S. only, it doesn't work. So we are involving the rest of the world, because if you're going to have sanctions, and you're going to have embargoes, and you're going to have meaningful reactions to whether it's Iran or whether it's North Korea, you do need others.

But north Korea +óGé¼GÇ¥ China's alone the one that can help, and Russia insofar as Iran.

MR. RUSSERT: Let me conclude with comments by Bill Kristol, the editor of the Weekly Standard. He used to work for Vice President Dan Quayle: +óGé¼+ôNorth Korea is firing missiles. Iran is going nuclear. Somalia is controlled by radical Islamists. Iraq isn+óGé¼Gäót getting better, and Afghanistan is getting worse. ... I give the president a lot of credit for hanging tough on Iraq. But I am worried that it has made them too passive in confronting the other threats.+óGé¼-¥ Has a preoccupation with Iraq allowed North Korea+óGé¼GÇ¥and Iran+óGé¼GÇ¥to go forward with their nuclear programs and limited our options?

And I disagree for one reason: We have a very strong and active government. From the Pentagon, the State Department, the White House, Treasury, we are focused on all of these problems. We created, over the last 15 months, a major international coalition to corner the Iranian government and to isolate them, and that+óGé¼Gäós been a diplomatic success over the last several months.

We+óGé¼Gäóve now got this six-party talk framework we hope coming back together, and certainly the five countries are united. Secretary Rumsfeld is in Afghanistan this morning and Secretary Rice was there 10 days ago, and we+óGé¼Gäóre giving that government+óGé¼GÇ¥President Karzai+óGé¼Gäós government+óGé¼GÇ¥all the support it can get. We are a government that can operate+óGé¼GÇ¥and we have to operate+óGé¼GÇ¥in every part of the world. We+óGé¼Gäóre a global superpower. We have tremendous resources at our disposal, and, frankly, we+óGé¼Gäóve got a first-class military and a first-class diplomatic effort, and we can certainly take on all these issues and be successful simultaneously.

MR. RUSSERT: And we will be watching. Ambassador Nicholas Burns, we thank you for sharing your views.

But just listen to this media montage to show you the narrow focus of the Drive-By Media. The action line on all US foreign policy is that whatever problem in the world exists, it's Bush's fault for one reason or another, largely Iraq. Anything they can do to portray Iraq as a failed policy in as many ways as possible they will do, and this montage demonstrates that.

ANDREA MITCHELL: The administration has been so focused on Iraq and Afghanistan, it has failed to pay enough attention to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

NORAH O'DONNELL: The war in Iraq has led to what has happened in the actions by Hamas and Hezbollah.

JOE BIDEN: Does anybody think we can wage a war now against Syria, against Iran, while we're still bogged down in Iraq?

RUSH: Stop the tape. The only people that don't think we can wage a war and win anywhere are people like you, Senator Biden, and it's because of policies of the Democratic Party and the American left that we now have this whole notion. I'm getting so sick and tired of people rooting for the defeat of the good guys. New York Times has an editorial that's just -- they may as well have announced that they have chosen sides and they want the terrorists to win. It's the most amazing editorial. We'll get to all that. Here's the rest of the montage.

SEN. BOXER: There's been an obsession with Iraq, taking advantage of the fact that we're bogged down.

TIM RUSSERT: Did the president pay enough attention to the Middle East or was he preoccupied with Iraq?

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Many argued that going into Iraq would stir up a hornet's nest.

BILL SCHNEIDER: The United States is paying for having put the Israel-Palestine issue on the back burner for most of the last five years paying much more attention to Iraq.

RUSH: Literal idiots. And these are the people in the Drive-By Media with such a narrow focus. They have missed the problem with one letter. The problem is Iran. It is not Iraq, folks. The problem is Iran.

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Related Countdown Video from July 18: The return of the neocons (Mitch Dworkin - 7/19/2006 10:25:02 AM)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/

Ã¢â‚¬Â¢ Video: The return of the neocons 05:55

http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?f=00&g=42ab99e5-80fd-4c25-aaa9-7f5b9b60f93f&p=News_Comment%20-%20Analysis&t=c1149&rf=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/&fg=