'Our pullout must look like a defeat'

If there is one thing that marks the general consensus on the left today it's that losing is somehow a winning position. The determination with which the left seems to pursue securing a political defeat for America is astounding. Is it just that the wrong party is in power? or would this be their position if a democrat were in power as well? I begin to wonder.

Likely it's too alien a prospect for me to fathom. But the ferris wheel of defeat goes on whether I understand it or not. The sixties radical protest template was no doubt in full psychic force among those eager to see Cindy Sheehan fulfill prophecies of a popular uprising against the war. Nostalgia for Nixonian scandal, with the hope that it could lead the left back to power, is rife. It is likely that this spells out the entirety of democratic strategy for winning back their power in the 2006 elections.

Some observations from listening to the left.

There is no indication yet that democrats in particular are ready to change their failing strategy from the last two elections. For one, they are still catering to their Michael Moore, Cindy Sheehan far-left base and until the far-left gets fed up with the current crop of Democratic spinelessness and defects to the Green Party (perhaps), or elected Democrats defect from them in favor of right-center positions, there is no hope for democrats to regain their power.

For instance, there is no constituency among ordinary Americans for worrying that our eventual withdrawal from Iraq will, "look like a victory."

Appearing at a town meeting in Arlington, Virginia, with fellow Democratic Rep. James Moran, Murtha said, "A year ago, I said we can't win this militarily, and I got all kinds of criticism." Now, Murtha told the strongly antiwar audience, "I worry about a slow withdrawal which makes it look like there's a victory when I think it should be a redeployment as quickly as possible and let the Iraqis handle the whole thing." nro

Democrats are still convinced that defeating Bush depends on appeasing their hardcore left base by making sure that they portray Iraq as exactly like 'unwinnable' Vietnam and a complete failure from start to finish. The fact that this requires not only gross exaggeration, damage to morale of both the troops and the American people, but also looks a lot like sour anti-americanism doesn't seem to matter still.

The loudest, longest applause of the evening came not after any statement by Murtha or Moran but after a member of the audience said that "Bush and his cronies" had been "criminally negligent" in the run-up to the war in Iraq. "My question is simple," the man continued. "With this criminal negligence going on, why shouldn't you impeach Bush/Cheney?"

"I tell you, I get a lot of letters just like that," Murtha said. But he did not answer the question, turning instead to the enthusiastic reception he has received after taking his antiwar stance. Moran, however, took the issue straight on.

"I don't think impeachment is the right course of action," he said. "We have a democracy, and the right course of action is to express yourself at the polls." nro

Another icon of liberalism paraded out to make useless statements defining defeat down is Walter Cronkite. Please note again the 'unwinnable vietnam' template evident.

Former CBS anchor Walter Cronkite, whose 1968 conclusion that the Vietnam War was unwinnable keenly influenced public opinion then, said Sunday he'd say the same thing today about Iraq.

"It's my belief that we should get out now," Cronkite said in a meeting with reporters.

Now 89, the television journalist once known as "the most trusted man in America" has been off the "CBS Evening News" for nearly a quarter-century. He's still a CBS News employee, although he does little for them. yahoo 'story will be gone tomorrow' news

I think my favorite part of this quote is the last, "He's still a CBS News employee, although he does little for them."

He does little for me as well. But I digress... the heart of the story is the following: We can put all of the leftist statements about how unwinnable this war is in the same category: Setting aside any objectivity is key to saying we cannot win.

Cronkite said one of his proudest moments came at the end of a 1968 documentary he made following a visit to Vietnam during the Tet offensive. Urged by his boss to briefly set aside his objectivity to give his view of the situation, Cronkite said the war was unwinnable and that the U.S. should exit.

Then-President Lyndon Johnson reportedly told a White House aide after that, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America."

The best time to have made a similar statement about Iraq came after Hurricane Katrina, he said.

"We had an opportunity to say to the world and Iraqis after the hurricane disaster that Mother Nature has not treated us well and we find ourselves missing the amount of money it takes to help these poor people out of their homeless situation and rebuild some of our most important cities in the United States," he said. "Therefore, we are going to have to bring our troops home." yahoo 'story will be gone tomorrow' news

This is the same man who said that Bush is President because of the ignorance of America.

If we expect this country to work, it depends on an informed, an intelligent electorate. You know, Thomas Jefferson said very early on in our republic that the nation that expects to be ignorant and free expects it never can and never will be.

We're an ignorant nation right now. We're not really capable I do not think the majority of our people of making the decisions that have to be made at election time and particularly in the selection of their legislatures and their Congress and the presidency of course. I don't think we're bright enough to do the job that would preserve our democracy, our republic. I think we're in serious danger. Cronkite

A typical liberal response. The people are ignorant. The people are deceived. It couldn't possibly be because in the free market of ideas, the American people didn't want what the left was selling. The message of defeat and retreat cannot possibly be at fault here. They were just too stupid to understand that it was in their best interest to vote against Bush-- OR perhaps his point was that our public educational system is not doing enough to indoctrinate Americans in what the 'correct' political ideology is?

The question is, are these positions just temporary because the wrong party is in power? or would this be their position if a democrat were in power as well? I wonder because there is evidence that those like Murtha are practiced in advising retreat at the first sign of enemy resistance. As if Americans are not meant to win, battles are not meant to be fought... Perhaps America is not meant to win because America is the problem in the world and should be humbled?

After terrorists attacked U.S. troops in Mogadishu, Somalia 12 years ago, anti-Iraq war Democrat, Rep. John Murtha urged then-President Clinton to begin a complete pullout of U.S. troops from the region.

Clinton took the advice and ordered the withdrawal - a decision that Osama bin Laden would later credit with emboldening his terrorist fighters and encouraging him to mount further attacks against the U.S.

"Our welcome has been worn out," Rep Murtha told NBC's "Today" show in Sept. 1993, a month after 4 U.S. Military Police had been killed in Somalia by a remote-detonated land mine.

... Two weeks later, after 18 U.S. Rangers were killed in the battle of Mogadishu, Murtha visited U.S. forces in Somalia.

Upon his return he proclaimed to the world that the Mogadishu defeat had a devastating impact on the Rangers' morale.

"They're subdued compared to normal morale of elite forces," Murtha said. "Obviously, it was a very difficult battle. A lot of Somalis were killed, but it was a brutal battle."

Murtha said the U.S. had to no choice but to pull out now, explaining, "There's no military solution. Some of them will tell you [that] to get [warlord Mohamed Farrah] Aidid is the solution. I don't agree with that."

The comments were eerily similar to Murtha's assessment of U.S involvement in Iraq last week, when he declared, "the U.S. cannot accomplish anything further militarily. It is time to bring [the troops] home." newsmax

Hmm. Deja vu?

[H]egemonic Word count: 1428

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