I believe myself that the secretary of state, secretary of defense and - you have to make your own decisions as to what the president knows - (know) this war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything as indicated by the extreme violence in Iraq yesterday.
You can call that putting his foot in his mouth if you like, but Reid's been clear and consistent about this. Nine days earlier - nine days earlier - Reid spoke on the Senate floor and said this:
Virtually all the experts -- military and civilian -- agree that the war cannot be won militarily. Success can only come when all the political leaders in Iraq reach a settlement.
Kinda puts the "war is lost" thing in a different light, doesn't it? And note that it caused no outcry at the time. Reid and Murtha and anybody with guts and brains have been saying this for a very long time.
On April 19, Reid followed up his initial remarks:
As long as we follow the president's path in Iraq, the war is lost. But there is still a chance to change course -- and we must change course.
And later:
The war can only be won diplomatically, politically and economically, and the president needs to come to that realization.
There's nothing inconsistent about any of that. The war - virtually all the experts agree - is lost as Bush is fighting it. Who can argue with that? Even Republicans regularly call it a debacle of the worst kind.
Reid's right.
No comments:
Post a Comment