When people say that critics of our Iraqi policy are "aiding the enemy," it usually doesn't sit well with me. Disagreeing with a political action isn't treason. If you see a policy you think is unjust or unwise, you not only have the right to disagree, you have an obligation to speak against it and work against it.
But there is a right and wrong way to disagree, and today elected Democrats choose the latter route. Usually, they're histrionic, but sometimes they really do cross the line and aid the enemy, e.g.:
On Capitol Hill, Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota called on the CIA to brief Congress on "just what, if anything, can be done to change the deteriorating set of circumstances."
When I say they are aiding the enemy, I don't mean that they are giving Iraqi insurgents bullets. I think they get a little thrill of satisfaction when a soldier dies in Iraq, because they think it will hurt President Bush politically. They don't want these thugs and murderers to win so much as they want the commander-in-chief to lose.
Daschle, and most of his Democrat colleagues, don't give a damn about American soldiers or innocent Iraqis. Iraqis can't vote for Democrats, and soldiers generally don't. Therefore, neither group has anything to do with the acquisition and use of political power, so to hell with them.
"Come on, Eric," you might be thinking. "You're saying that because you're a Republican and in the military." Maybe that's why I'm saying it, but it's still completely true. Here's what a loyal opposition, in the British sense, would look like: Democrats would criticize the president. They would also present their own plan of action in Iraq, one that is something a little more substantive than "U.N. in, U.S. out." They would issue press statements supporting Operation Iron Hammer, the current campaign against the insurgents. They would speak out against our French and German "allies" when they make obvious efforts to curtail U.S. power in the world. They would make it clear that when they speak against the president's policies, they do not think he is a malevolent moron, thus emboldening our enemies.
In short, men like Tom Daschle would remember that they were elected by Americans and are supposed to work on behalf of the American people.
Let's not forget Democratic flaks and message men like Paul Begala. From his perch on Crossfire, every day we lose a soldier in Iraq, he works it into the program and uses it to slam the President on Iraq.
Each loss of each GI is sad and something we wish to avert, whether it's a loss in combat or in a training accident. That being said, some Democrats (like Begala) are ghoulishly salivating at each casualty report in order to bang the anti-war in Iraq drums and lash out in a general indictment of the war in Iraq and the Bush Administration's reconstruction efforts there.
It's pretty sick. But then, this is the party that fought banning Partial Birth Abortion to the death and still fights on in court.
Don't forget the plan of Democrat staffers on the Senate Intelligence Committee to use the work of the committee for political purposes. This is even more serious.
Truly shameless, Charles. I have a hard time respecting congressional Democrats these days. I used to think they were misguided and wrong, but mostly honorable. Now I just think they're crazed with frustrated ambition.
Imagine if there was a front page story (and photo) on all the major newspapers every time an American was killed in an abortuary. Let's narrow it down.. What about every time a child is born alive and is left to die in a metal pan or beaten to death?
Simple coverage.. Is that so much to ask? Yes, of course.