red states rule
07-26-2007, 05:51 AM
I could not believe what I was reading - finally a big government liberal who understands the war on terror
Dems, Bush Should Agree to Fight al-Qaida
By Mort Kondracke
Instead of serving as another focus for partisan rancor, the resurgent menace of al-Qaida ought to unify Democrats and Republicans around a common threat.
It would help enormously if President Bush admitted upfront that his mistakes -- including the decision to go to war in Iraq -- stimulated al-Qaida's recovery.
At the same time, Americans have every right to expect that Democrats, especially presidential candidates, come up with a coherent strategy for fighting al-Qaida -- including its branch in Iraq -- instead of just pummeling Bush.
A joint strategy should consist of a determination to keep U.S. forces in Iraq until the threat posed by al-Qaida in Iraq is defeated; greater efforts to create a democratic transition in Pakistan, al-Qaida's present headquarters; and upgraded efforts to bolster the weak pro-Western regime in Afghanistan.
However, instead of treating the latest National Intelligence Estimate as a dire warning demanding unified thinking and action, it was treated as yet another occasion for partisan wrangling.
As Washington Post columnist David Ignatius observed even before the report came out, there's every reason to fear that if a successful terrorist attack occurred in the United States, Democrats and Republicans would use it as an excuse for recrimination, not a cause for renewed determination to combat a murderous threat to civilization.
Democrats likely would charge, as they always do, that Bush diverted resources from fighting al-Qaida to invading Iraq, that he created a terrorist rallying point and recruiting ground there where none existed beforehand, and that he has inflamed Muslim sentiment around the world.
for the complete article
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/07/democrats_bush_should_agree_to.html
Dems, Bush Should Agree to Fight al-Qaida
By Mort Kondracke
Instead of serving as another focus for partisan rancor, the resurgent menace of al-Qaida ought to unify Democrats and Republicans around a common threat.
It would help enormously if President Bush admitted upfront that his mistakes -- including the decision to go to war in Iraq -- stimulated al-Qaida's recovery.
At the same time, Americans have every right to expect that Democrats, especially presidential candidates, come up with a coherent strategy for fighting al-Qaida -- including its branch in Iraq -- instead of just pummeling Bush.
A joint strategy should consist of a determination to keep U.S. forces in Iraq until the threat posed by al-Qaida in Iraq is defeated; greater efforts to create a democratic transition in Pakistan, al-Qaida's present headquarters; and upgraded efforts to bolster the weak pro-Western regime in Afghanistan.
However, instead of treating the latest National Intelligence Estimate as a dire warning demanding unified thinking and action, it was treated as yet another occasion for partisan wrangling.
As Washington Post columnist David Ignatius observed even before the report came out, there's every reason to fear that if a successful terrorist attack occurred in the United States, Democrats and Republicans would use it as an excuse for recrimination, not a cause for renewed determination to combat a murderous threat to civilization.
Democrats likely would charge, as they always do, that Bush diverted resources from fighting al-Qaida to invading Iraq, that he created a terrorist rallying point and recruiting ground there where none existed beforehand, and that he has inflamed Muslim sentiment around the world.
for the complete article
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/07/democrats_bush_should_agree_to.html