Friday, April 13, 2007

AS USUAL, THE EXTRAORDINARY DR. KRAUTHAMMER HAS IT RIGHT

Dr. Charles Krauthammer is a national treasure and his Thursday Op-Ed in the Washington Post makes his genius clear:

“How at this point -- with only about half of the additional surge troops yet deployed -- can Democrats be trying to force the United States to give up? The Democrats say they are carrying out their electoral mandate from the November election. But winning a single-vote Senate majority as a result of razor-thin victories in Montana and Virginia is hardly a landslide.

Second, if the electorate was sending an unconflicted message about withdrawal, how did the most uncompromising supporter of the war, Sen. Joe Lieberman, win handily in one of the most liberal states in the country?

And third, where was the mandate for withdrawal? Almost no Democratic candidates campaigned on that. They campaigned for changing the course the administration was on last November.

Which the president has done. He changed the civilian leadership at the Defense Department, replaced the head of Central Command and, most critically, replaced the Iraq commander with Petraeus -- unanimously approved by the Democratic Senate -- to implement a new counterinsurgency strategy.”

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't agree there was a mandate for withdrawal, and I don't think it matters. Anyone who voted for the policy without knowing they were committed to a five or ten year fight costing nearly a trillion dollars -- save social security, anyone? -- was an idiot.

This was obviously going to go long and cost lots. You started it, you finish it, or at least try. Give the surge a chance.

Gayle Miller said...

See paul - I KNEW you were smart!