I love how, in the end, reality has a way of biting even the most rigid ideologues in the butt. In this case, it's Iraq and Republican die hards who have supported Bush slavishly through disaster, massacre, and no success strategy in sight there. But finally, a few Republicans at least are starting to break with Bush on this one, as they come to realize what many of us have been saying for a long time now: Iraq is a strategic quagmire and is severely hurting U.S. national security interests around the world.According to today's Washington Post:
Faced with almost daily reports of sectarian carnage in Iraq, congressional Republicans are shifting their message on the war from speaking optimistically of progress to acknowledging the difficulty of the mission and pointing up mistakes in planning and execution.[..]
Rep. Gil Gutknecht (Minn.), once a strong supporter of the war, returned from Iraq this week declaring that conditions in Baghdad were far worse "than we'd been led to believe" and urging that troop withdrawals begin immediately.
And freshman Sen. John Thune (S.D.) told reporters at the National Press Club that if he were running for reelection this year, "you obviously don't embrace the president and his agenda."
"The first thing I'd do is acknowledge that there have been mistakes made," Thune said.
Very interesting. Sounds a lot like what we've been saying here for months now. Or how about this, from Rep. Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.)?
It's like after Katrina, when the secretary of homeland security was saying all those people weren't really stranded when we were all watching it on TV. I still hear about that. We can't look like we won't face reality.
This is a big change, and a stark contrast with "dead enders" like George Felix Allen, a man who never served in the military, but who apparently is willing to fight to the last American for...something or other over in Iraq. Not only that, but Allen even goes so far as to claim that DEBATE over Iraq is "not helpful," implying that those who engage in such debate are hurting the morale of our troops. I wonder what George Felix Allen has to say about his fellow Republicans as they shift towards the Democratic position on this issue? Are Republicans like John Thune - a conservative from South Dakota - engaging in "political sniping or grndstanding," or is it ok when Republicans start saying the same things the rest of us have been saying for a long time now? Who knows in the phony, fantasy world of Felix, where he's really a "cowboy" and really from the south...south of California, that is.
Let's get someone in the Senate who will think for himself and do his own, independent analysis of the situation. Let's elect Jim Webb this November, and get ourselves a Senator about whom we can be proud.
Lowell Feld is Netroots Coordinator for the Jim Webb for US Senate Campaign. The ideas expressed here belong to Lowell Feld alone, and do not necessarily represent those of Jim Webb, his advisors, staff, or supporters.