Redstate

Posted at 2:21pm on Jun. 3, 2008 When Success Becomes A Problem

By streiff

Last year:

BALZ: What do Democrats do if General Petraeus comes in in September and says, "This is working very, very well at this point; we would be foolish to back away from it"?

CLYBURN: Well, that would be a real big problem for us, no question about that, simply because of those 47 Blue Dogs. I think there would be enough support in that group to want to stay the course, and if the Republicans were to remain united, as they have been, then it would be a problem for us. (Washington Post Post Talk video)

Now:

THERE'S BEEN a relative lull in news coverage and debate about Iraq in recent weeks -- which is odd, because May could turn out to have been one of the most important months of the war. While Washington's attention has been fixed elsewhere, military analysts have watched with astonishment as the Iraqi government and army have gained control for the first time of the port city of Basra and the sprawling Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, routing the Shiite militias that have ruled them for years and sending key militants scurrying to Iran. At the same time, Iraqi and U.S. forces have pushed forward with a long-promised offensive in Mosul, the last urban refuge of al-Qaeda. So many of its leaders have now been captured or killed that U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, renowned for his cautious assessments, said that the terrorists have "never been closer to defeat than they are now." (Washington Post)

Only the Democrats could view American military success as a problem to be overcome.

Posted in Defeatocrats | Democrats | James Clyburn — Comments (3)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 5:25pm on Apr. 11, 2008 How Do You Spell Defeat?

Ask House Democrats

By absentee

The appearances before Congress by General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker this week were marked less by the sober forthrightness of the two men than by Democrat grandstanding. Tuesday’s Senate hearings were best summed up by Sen. Joseph Lieberman: "As I hear the questions and the statements today, it seems to me that there's a kind of 'hear no progress in Iraq, see no progress in Iraq, and most of all, speak of no progress in Iraq.'"

On Wednesday the hearings were before the House Armed Services Committee. Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO) set the Democrat tone in his opening remarks. "We should not begin this hearing without recalling how we got here," he said. "Iraq was invaded on incorrect information. The turbulent aftermath following the initial military victory was not considered, despite warnings of the aftermath, including two such warnings from me. Now we're in our sixth year of attempting to quell this horrendous aftermath." The remainder of his opening speech was heavy on the horrendous, as he invoked failures and Bin Laden to paint a bleak picture of an impotent America, an intransigent Iraq, a neglected Afghanistan, and a stubborn President.

"Things haven't changed that much in Iraq," was the ever-present message. House Democrats piled on a theme of "No Hope, No Change" in contrast to their leading Democrat candidate, who for his part on Tuesday was keen on pointing out that there is “still violence in Iraq.”

Posted in Congress | Defeatocrats | Democrats | General Petraeus | War — Comments (26)/ Email this page » / Read More »