The Rumsfeld memo released Sunday that argued to President Bush for a change in strategy was a shocker to me because until then I never really bought the idea propagated by Bill Kristol that Rummy was a flexible, pragmatic dovish secretary: his iron jawed visage and blunt words had taken me in. I should have known better since I knew him fairly well earlier. Rumsfeld was never, ever an ideologue but a very flexible pragmatist. Kristol, smarter than I on this one (and maybe on many other things) always argued that Rumsfeld was a key to the failure in Iraq by poor planning, yes, but also an inability to commit sufficient troops. In this memo, it is clear that Kristol has been right all along. Which means that Rumsfeld was not the kind of guy you would want to have by your side when, like Custer, you’re facing a lot of Indians coming at you ala the Democrats and the mainstream media.
The longer I look at this Iraq thing the more concerned I am that we must win this thing—not start slow, phased withdrawals. To withdraw means something of a Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. mentality: he who arranged the assassination of Diem. To withdraw means we must retreat from Iraq and vamoose: leaving those Iraqis, Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds and others who believed in us to the tender mercies of chaos. That we must betray our allies in Lebanon and scotch the idea of an independent Lebanon so as to gain Syria’s support for our pulling out of Iraq. If that’s realism, I’ll take vanilla. It’s retreat and capitulation. What would Winston Churchill do at this hour? I know what this sounds like: it sounds like the only two people who are acceptable thus far for president are either Gingrich or McCain…and of the two, McCain is more nearly electable. Where Romney and Brownback are be at this juncture we don’t know. I guess we all know what Barack Obama would do, don’t we?
Remember that it was the neo-cons like Kristol who wanted the Iraq war. Bill Bennett (neo-con)even started a group at the time to push it. It was the intellectual neo-cons who under Rummy moved into the Pentagon.
ReplyDeleteRemember that famous phrase, Iraq will be a cakewalk? We will be welcomed in the street with flowers. Neo-con Rush Limbaugh went overboard pushing the Iraq war. All those weapons of mass destruction to be feared et al. Democracy was going to flood the middle east from Iraq and the oil would be cheap and pay for the war...... Whoopee
No, it was POOPEE.... a complete flop A FIASCO!
When the whole thing started to FAIL the neo-con war planner rats like Pearle then Wolfewitz left the ship. Then the neo-cons began blaming everyone but themselves! Have they NO shame?
It was the neo-cons and their FAILED ideas like open borders, trade at any price, and the Iraq war that SUNK the Republican party! And now their counterparts, the Democratic Leadership Council are pushing Hillary for Prez. Remember Bush when he said that, Wouldn't it be nice to have Bush Clinton Bush Clinton. Wake up all of you and look at the trojan horse neo-cons for the frauds that they are to the conservative causes. Just look at how they dump on the social conservatives while they promote their BIG govenment- BIG deficit UTOPIA than drove the Republican Party into the wall. But just like Bill Bennett who has his Dem counterpart in his brother, or Mary Matalin who has her dem counterpart in hubby Carville, neo-con frauds have their counterpart in the Democratic Leadership Council who will promote the SAME anti-conservative policies under Hillary.
But then.... excuse me Rupert Murdoch, it is not politically correct to criticize the neo-cons or even to acknowledge their destructive existence in the Republican party!!! But they have really crapped the Republican Party!!!! Just like what Ryan's left swinging RINOS did in Illinois! Ryan OUT, Blago IN
Bush OUT, Hillary IN
But go on, continue being mushy and kissing up to the Weekly Standard-esque neo-con propaganda!
Give me the Rockford Institute crowd anyday!