(”Freedom fries” creator, Walter Jones of North Carolina, pictured)
Last Friday, a bi-partisan group of Congressional leaders called on the White House to set a timetable for US troop withdrawal from Iraq. “The resolution was sponsored by Reps. Walter B. Jones Jr. (R-N.C.), Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Ron Paul (R-Tex.). It calls for Bush to begin drawing down troops in Iraq by Oct. 1, 2006, but does not set a date for complete withdrawal.” In other words, the US should cut and run.
Just a few months ago, the vast majority of conservative television and news pundits were holding tight to the party line–that the US military should stay in Iraq until it “finishes the job.” They said that to leave Iraq now would give victory to the “terrorists” and lead to chaos in an unstable region full of maniacal America-haters. Moreover, they argued, America had a responsibility to bring freedom and democracy to the “Iraqi people.”
Now that it has become clear to even the staunchest pro-war malefactor that the insurgency will not end so long as US troops remain on Iraqi soil, Republican Congressional leaders and their syncophant pundits in the media are running for the hills. Republican lawmakers, many of whom face reelection in 2006, realize that the majority of Americans are now opposed to the war. Whereas opposition to the war could have cost one of these chicken hearts an election in 2004, supportfor the war could cost them an election in 2006. Cowardice at its finest to say the least–lives of American soldiers be damned. “Support the troops,” they say. Like little boys who lose a soccer game and take the only ball home, these pundits are ready to “give up” on their imperial experiment.
Lost in the tears for the over 1,700 dead Americans is even a scant acknowledgement of the tens of thousands of Iraqis that have been killed in the initial attack, the occupation and the insurgency. No, not a word about the Iraqis. To Americans, the Iraqi body count is completely and totally irrelevant.
Filed under: Uncategorized
