most of the 2008 possible candidates have issued their little edicts about what we should do in Iraq ... the problem is, they issued their edicts a long time ago ... they were DOA then and they're DOA now ...
what has happened in the interim is that bush has continued doing whatever the hell he wanted to do ... some would argue that the Dems have no power ... they're wrong, of course ... the Dems could have plenty of power if they were willing to try to rally the American people to end the war NOW !! but they don't ... and seemingly, they won't ...
some complain that we're not given access to the media ... but look back over the last 6 months and ask yourself what Dem stood out when speaking on Iraq ... what Dem got tons of media coverage? what Dem stirred up the whole country and got us to truly focus on the issue? it was Murtha ...
is Murtha's plan the best? don't know ... were there other strategies that might have been better for the country, better for the Iraqis, better for world peace and better for the Democratic Party? perhaps ...
the point, however, is that taking a sharp and clear position in direct opposition to bush is the only way to change the status quo ... all the other proposals were DOA ... Murtha gave us a voice; none of the others was able to do so ...
and now, as the two-dead-Americans-a-day death toll continues to rise and Iraq moves closer and closer to full-scale civil war, Democrats have done virtually F**KING NOTHING ... a little criticism of bush here; a little "we probably shoulda done something else" there ... that's not LEADERSHIP ... real leadership requires a daily commitment to stop the war ... real leadership requires real opposition ... and real leadership requires educating the American people about why we can never succeed in Iraq and rallying them to demand an end to the war ... there are a few Democrats trying to do just that; very few ...
the US needs to get out of Iraq NOW ... not in 6 months ... not in a year ... not in, as Dean has suggested, TWO YEARS ... that's not what Democrats want ... that's not what the American people want ... and it is REALLY BAD POLITICS ... the bad news is that there are no answers in Iraq; each day we remain, more will die ...
some have assumed that we can train Iraqi forces to "shoulder more of the responsibility" ... the benchmarks Kerry and others have called for was always based primarily on the transition of power to the Iraqis ... well, wake the fuck up!!! it is NOT HAPPENING !!! we cannot continue to tapdance around the realities in Iraq ... and we should not support candidates who continue to vote for more funds to allow bush to continue this madness ... we are about to enter the fourth year of this insanity ... that's longer than we spent in WWII ...
STOP FUNDING THE DAMNED WAR or we will stop funding YOU !!! it's time to support only those candidates who vote to cut-off funding for the war ...
source:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/02/24/iraq.security/index.htmlPentagon: Iraqi troops downgraded
No Iraqi battalion capable of fighting without U.S. support
The only Iraqi battalion capable of fighting without U.S. support has been downgraded to a level requiring them to fight with American troops backing them up, the Pentagon said Friday.The battalion, made up of 700 to 800 Iraqi Army soldiers, has repeatedly been offered by the U.S. as an example of the growing independence of the Iraqi military.
The competence of the Iraqi military has been cited as a key factor in when U.S. troops will be able to return home.
The battalion, according to the Pentagon, was downgraded from "level one" to "level two" after a recent quarterly assessment of its capabilities.
Though officials would not cite a specific reason for downgrading the unit, its readiness level has dropped in the wake of a new commander and numerous changes in the combat and support units, officials said.