A Telling Silence - DEM Agenda Skips the War

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/a_telling_silence_opedcolumnists_john_podhoretz.htm

A Telling Silence - DEM Agenda Skips the War

June 16, 2006 -- DEMOCRATIC House members unveiled their version of the Contract with America yesterday - a plan for governance should their party win control of the House of Representatives in November. The agenda items of their "New Direction for America" include stem-cell research, promoting energy-efficient technology, raising the minimum wage, making college tuition tax deductible, preventing the privatization of Social Security and restoring budget discipline (which is code for raising taxes on whoever they think is "rich").

These are all popular and poll-tested proposals, as was the case with the Contract items devised by Newt Gingrich in 1994. But there is not one word, not a word, in the plan about the War on Terror or the war in Iraq.

Back in 1994, with the Cold War over and America halving the size of its armed forces, the Contract with America managed to carve out a plank on foreign-policy and military matters - because Gingrich and his fellows understood they needed to say something on these vital matters, even if they didn't seem quite so vital at the time.

In 2006, with 150,000 Americans under arms in the Mideast, and Iraq topping the list of American concerns in every poll, the Democrats could not come up with a single thing to say about it or America's role in the world generally. <snip>

With regard to the next steps in Iraq, the 'Licans will cream us in November.

Personally, I don't see a lot of difference in the ultimate outcome (three fractious new nations that'll spend the next 50 years figuring out how to live with each other, a la India and Pakistan) if we leave tomorrow or if we leave next year -- except we'll pour more lives, fortune, and sacred honor down the rathole the longer we stay.

The perversity of Bush's war is that there is NO good solution: Iraq's belly has been ripped open and its intestines have spilled out at its feet -- there's no way to pretty it up.

So we have to pick the least bad solution -- getting out as soon as reasonably achieveable, and put that forward as the plan. What the recently released Dem document does is avoid the issue altogether.

And, at the risk of repeating myself, that will kill us in November.

And if Kerry can get the rest of the Democratic Party to rally around the idea -- and especially the notion that the Iraqi government needs the deadline to move forward (an idea that can be communicated to the American voter in an uncomplicated way) -- then he'll have demonstrated the qualities of leadership that would earn him serious consideration in 2008.

From your post:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1443114

Posted on Fri, Jun. 16, 2006
Bring U.S. troops home by end of '06
By Sen. John Kerry

Snip...

The confirmation of Iraq's vital cabinet ministers to run the police force and army, coupled with the killing of the brutal terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, are an opportunity to change the course in Iraq - if we seize it.

We know the verdict of our generals: the war cannot be won militarily; the only way forward is a political settlement. We need to listen to Gen. George Casey, the U.S. military commander in Iraq, who argued that our large military presence "feeds the notion of occupation" and "extends the amount of time that it will take for Iraqi security forces to become self-reliant." To make Iraqis self-reliant, we need hard and fast deadlines, not an open-ended commitment of U.S. forces.

Iraqi politicians have proved that they respond only to deadlines - a deadline to transfer authority, and deadlines to hold three elections. It was only the most intense eleventh-hour pressure that pushed aside Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and brought forward a consensus prime minister. It was only the most intense eleventh-hour pressure that forced the Iraqis to complete their government. That is why we need a deadline now for Iraqis to stand up and fight for their own country.

It is time to announce that our combat troops are coming home in 2006. It is time to set a schedule with the new Iraqi government for the phased withdrawal of U.S. combat forces by the end of the year. Doing so will empower the Iraqi leadership, put Iraqis in the position of running their own country, and undermine support for the insurgency, which is fueled in large measure by the majority of Iraqis who want us to leave their country. Only troops essential to finishing the job of training Iraqi forces should remain. This will put Iraqis in charge - and it will undermine support for the insurgency.

Key to this transition is a long overdue engagement in serious and sustained diplomacy. To give Iraq its best hope for a peaceful future, the administration should convene a summit that includes the leaders of that country, its neighbors, and representatives from the Arab League, NATO, the United Nations and the European Union to forge the comprehensive political solution that is necessary to bring stability to Iraq. Making it clear that America will not stay in Iraq forever pressures the regional players to step up and assume their fair share of the burden.

We will not leave Iraq vulnerable. Under my plan, the United States will maintain an over-the-horizon military presence in the Middle East to fight the war on terror and protect regional security interests. We will finish training Iraqi security forces - and hold the president firm to his word that when Iraqis stand up, we will stand down. So far, the Iraqis have trained 265,600 security forces - just 7,000 shy of the Bush administration's stated goal of 272,566. Where's the standing down?

more....
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/14829393.htm

was trying to rush it to the floor before Kerry finished getting support. So from what I understand this will still be discussed next week.

vote next week.

Or is it similar to Rupert Murdoch's Fox News?

:-)

pffft!

certainly not fit to be posted on DU unquestioningly.

:toast:

n/t

To me it just sounds like more of the Rove Mighty Wurlitzer playing the "Dems Have No Ideas"

As to whether or not the point is valid, NYP automatically deserves skepticism.

Personally I don't have time to fully research it (gotta go out to a meeting), but here is a link to the Democratic Party Website. It appears to be a section of the dem agenda.:

http://www.democrats.org/a/national/strength_overseas/


<snip>

Strength Overseas

Our nation stands as a shining example to all the world of freedom and democracy, a unique honor that comes with a responsibility to lead.

Democrats believe that strong international alliances are the cornerstone of our foreign policy. The threat from international terrorism and rogue states requires a new era of alliances led by the United States, based on mutual respect and shared vision.

Sad Milestone in Iraq Underscores Urgent Need for a Real Policy

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Bush’s New Optimism No Substitute For A Real Plan For Iraq

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Dean On GOP's Iraq Resolution Playbook

Almost five years after 9/11, Osama bin Laden is still at large. The President has allowed North Korea to become more dangerous. Iran is threatening to become a nuclear power. And the reality is that there is no strategy from this President to get the job done in Iraq and get them home. Americans simply can't trust Republicans to keep our country safe.
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Bush Administration Fails to Give Straight Answers on Iraq

Once again, the Bush White House has failed to give straight answers on the question of when American troops can come home from Iraq, and have consistently contradicted the statements of Iraqi leaders and their own Administration officials.
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Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid Delivers Radio Address

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The GOP’s Misplaced Priorities On Iraq

This week, even as Republicans in the Senate are forcing votes on divisive wedge issues to distract Americans from the real issues confronting our nation, including efforts to write discrimination into the constitution, address the non-existent threat of flag burning, and eliminate the estate tax, the GOP-controlled Congress is continuing to ignore crucial issues like the problems in Iraq. Instead of focusing on helping our troops and pressuring the Bush Administration to develop a strategy for success in Iraq that brings our troops home safely, Republicans in Congress are are choosing to forge ahead with an agenda built on divisive politics.
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Republican Wins Special Election on Anti-Immigrant Platform

Brian Bilbray, running against comprehensive immigration reform and for the type of punitive and anti-immigrant measures found in the House Republicans' bill, won a special election last night in California's 50th Congressional District
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Dean: Instead of showing real leadership, President Bush's southwest tour today highlights his ongoing failure to stand up to anti-immigrant rhetoric and misguided policies from the far-right of the Republican Party. President Bush must reject anti-immigrant and un-American provisions, some of which ended up in the House bill, if he wants a bill worth signing.
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State Senator Peter Welch of Vermont Delivers Democratic Radio Address

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MUST READ: Bush's "Stay The Course" Dogma Has Led To Iraq's Continued Deterioration

On Sunday, the New York Times editorial board wrote that no matter how long or how many American troops are in Iraq, it is up to the Iraqi government to rid its forces of the brutal and lawless elements if it is to be any better then the former dictatorship.
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Our Troops and the American People Deserve More Than Bush's Regrets

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<snip>

standard as I understand it.

One adds commentary in the thread (granted I often do add commentary in the OP because I do not expect to be able to get back to the thread until much later, and posting commentary as a reply to myself looks a bit weird :-)

even in the URL:

nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/a_telling_silence_opedcolumnists_john_podhoretz.htm

I am not trying to give you a hard time, but it ain't a news item.

Also, let's check media matters for the author, John Podhoretz:

http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/search_results?qstring=podhoretz

<snip>

Why is NewsMax promoting Tim Russert's new book?
Wednesday, June 14, 2006 9:16AM

Podhoretz on Hillary Clinton's "virtues": "I use the B-word to describe her" because she "has qualities that we commonly associate with being unfeminine"
Wednesday, May 10, 2006 3:23PM

Ignoring its own paper and echoing GOP faithful, Wash. Post editorial furthered numerous CIA leak falsehoods
Monday, April 10, 2006 7:13PM

Ensor, Podhoretz misrepresented executive orders to absolve Bush of NIE leak scandal
Friday, April 7, 2006 3:20PM

Kurtz deplored those who questioned Carroll's motives, but he was one of them
Monday, April 3, 2006 7:48PM

Podhoretz said Democrats calling Bush "incompetent" would turn off voters, ignored polls that say many voters already think Bush is "incompetent"
Wednesday, March 22, 2006 1:36PM

Conservative media figures falsely equated 1985 Alito letter with legal scholars' criticism of Roe
Tuesday, November 15, 2005 8:14PM

<snip>

ON EDIT - fix my sloppy formatting.

and I plead not thinking do to lack of time - and just an old brain. I post these items so that we know what the other side is using as logic to convince the media that they are "right". Granted the media often does not care about right and wrong and just tries to please the right wing corporate management via their choice of "narrative", I have hope that at least a few in the media will give truth a chance.

But just as you are correct- there is no reason not to comment on an opinion in the posting of the opinion piece - one should note that there is also no reason to assume a negative position, relative to progressive values, is being taken by a poster who does not comment and make explicit their take on the piece or their objections to the piece.

But it is easier to avoid this kind of a discussion by making a comment than to depend on getting a non-judgmental read of any post that is a cut and paste of commentary or data that does not advance the progressive cause. Thanks for reminding me that posting the "other side" so that folks can tear it apart is a bit dicey, unless one makes clear your intent, on DU.

that R. Murdoch's NY Post is no friend of the Democratic Party.

This article takes the one thing it can from the Dem agenda and uses it in an attempt to divide Democrats.

There is much that is postive in the Dem proposals, and we here at DU should focus on that.


------------------------
and not on crap like this:

"and restoring budget discipline (which is code for raising taxes on whoever they think is "rich"). "

Not IRAQ, although it's true what happens in Iraq affect Americans (especially those with loved ones in Iraq). I'm sure their position on Iraq will be out soon. It seems they're all standing with Murtha's plan now.