can rim-man be far behind? http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OGFmNjk3MjU2NzA4NWQxOTBiNjZkYjhlNjJhN2U1NmM= [rquoter]On the NewsHour tonight, Sen. Reid allowed that the surge has “helped.” “We sent other troops over there, and there are a lot of reasons the surge certainly hasn't hurt. It's helped. I recognize that.” (The Newshour With Jim Lehrer, PBS, December 21, 2007) But it wasn’t that long ago when Reid infamously said that the war was "lost" and the surge wasn’t “accomplishing anything.” “Now, I believe, myself, that the secretary of state, the secretary of defense — and you have to make your own decision as to what the president knows — that this war is lost and that the surge is not accomplishing anything…” (Sen. Harry Reid, Press Conference, April 19, 2007)[/rquoter]
It was an overstatement to say the surge isn't helping anything. Our troops do a great job, and obviously it has helped with security. But Reid is correct in saying it isn't helping win the war in Iraq, because it isn't.
The title of this thread is interesting and telling. Facts are secondary to the belief. Reality is ignored in favor of what makes the converted feel good. basso, I have religion... it's a rimrockerian form of Methodism, thank you very much... and I don't conflate it with politics and don't look to political leaders for spiritual insight or to religious leaders for the coolness of belonging. The Iraq War has been lost since before the beginning. Iraq is a failure and will go down in history as a folly on par with the Athenian Syracuse expedition. It's absurd that after the ripping apart of mixed communities and the deaths of thousands that you and our politicians are trumpeting the fact that the situation is not quite as horrific as it once was as a success. Everyone, even Mr. Reid and Mr. Bush, knows this is a domestic political exercise designed to push the ultimate moment of decision when our government will have to formally admit what everyone knows to the day after Bush leaves office. Well, everyone except those that worship the administration.
I said awhile back that, at best, the surge would delay the ultimate decision to leave, which Bush will not make on his watch because it was he who made the catastrophic mistake of invading. It would be too humiliating and the withdrawal will present a new set of problems Bush doesn't want to be associated with. That way, after leaving power, he and minions can fault the next administration. Despicable and pathetic. Just a continuation of running the invasion as an ongoing campaign event instead of as a war.
