Moment Of Truth For The GOP

(Weekly Standard)  This column was written by William Kristol.

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"When Sen. John E. Sununu (R-N.H.) saw reporters approaching him last week, he took off in a sprint, determined to say as little as possible about a nonbinding resolution opposing President Bush's troop-escalation plan, which is expected to come before the Senate today. 'You know where I stand,' the senator, who is considered politically vulnerable back home, said repeatedly as he fled down stairways at the Capitol. 'I'm still looking.'"
— Washington Post, Feb. 5, 2007

And so are we. We're looking for more than a few good Republicans — and John McCain and Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell and Judd Gregg have been very good. (And Joe Lieberman has been very, very good. But he unfortunately is a party of one.) We're looking for a little more courage and outspokenness from Republicans across the board (including in the administration).

Most in the GOP, it should be emphasized, are holding firm, supporting their president at a critical time in a crucial war. But a lot of them are doing so quietly, and grudgingly. They might as well speak up in support of the president and his new Iraq commander, Gen. David Petraeus, in their push for victory in Iraq. They will get no credit for their timidity from friends or opponents.

Then there are those Republicans who are fleeing as fast as their feet can carry them from Bush, and from the war — from a difficult and unpopular war prosecuted by a president of their party. After all, they reason, the polls are bad — and November 2008 is approaching.

Leave aside the substantive foolishness of their position (we're against the surge but we're unwilling to articulate an alternative). The fact is the politics of flight aren't attractive. The Republican Party can't escape the Iraq war. It's the central foreign policy challenge taken on by the first post-Cold War Republican administration. If the war ends badly for the country, and the country is convinced that the war was either unnecessary or prosecuted fecklessly, Republican senators and congressmen won't save themselves by jumping ship in February of 2007. The whole party will suffer — the courageous few and the silent majority and the comically evasive alike.

Consider Vietnam. Between 1964 and 1968, the Democrats split and the country lost confidence in them. The Democratic share of the presidential vote went from 61 percent in 1964 to 42 percent in 1968. Democrats lost 9 Senate seats and 52 House seats in that four-year period. In other words: If Bush loses in Iraq, Republicans across the board will pay a price in 2008 and beyond.

Fortunately, most Republicans are hanging in there with Bush and Petraeus. The number of GOP deserters — or, to be more charitable, conscientious objectors — remains small. The large majority of Republicans continue to support the effort in Iraq. But they could do so more outspokenly and more aggressively. They shouldn't view defending the war as simply a grim duty. After all, Gen. Petraeus, who assumes command this weekend, believes we can win the war. Whether we will depends on lots of factors, not all of them in our control. Still, there is a decent chance of victory. Helping him — and the troops, and the nation — achieve a successful outcome is no small thing. Surely Republicans should view it as a matter of pride to be able to provide him with that support.

Isn't that what political parties are for? Isn't that why one enters politics — to make a difference at a time of difficulty and uncertainty? Fighting for a good cause is why parties are formed and supported, and why they sometimes prove themselves deserving of loyalty. Henry Wallace and his fellow travelers abandoned Harry Truman in 1947-48. What made the modern Democratic Party worth belonging to for the next generation was the fact that the majority of the party rallied behind Truman, and provided — along with public-spirited Republicans — the domestic support needed in the early years of the Cold War. (Today, alas, Henry Wallace's heirs dominate Truman's party). The reason many Americans became Republicans in recent times is that the GOP stood with Reagan (when Democrats in large measure did not) behind the policies that brought down the evil empire.

What better cause is there today, at the beginning of this new century of danger and challenge, than support for victory in a just war? The consequences of defeat would be ghastly. The prospect of victory is difficult but real. This is when a political party proves its worth.


By William Kristol
©

[jonesforch]

Sgt. Annie Torres deployed with Bravo Company 145th Support Battalion of the 116th Brigade Combat Team in 2004. After training four months in Texas she entered Iraq on Nov. 29, 2004 and was stationed at Forward Operating Base %u201CWarrior.%u201D Torres worked with the organizational maintenance and was a unit movement officer for her company and a hazmat certifier for the brigade. Sgt. Torres returned stateside on Nov. 12, 2005. Currently Sgt. Torres works full time at Gowen Field as a supply sergeant for Charlie Medical Company.

21,000 more troops being called to Iraq.Many people have asked me how I feel about this situation. In fact, just today I was asked three times for my opinion. I%u2019ve decided it%u2019s time to address this in my own words. This is just an opinion, MY opinion, as many people may view this quite differently.

[ Read the rest ... ]

http://www.kunachronicle.com/news-i28-11.html

[j0hnwi11iams]

Kristol is delusional. I don't think he has even the slightest grasp of reality. No sense of priority or proportion. Maybe he should send his own kids to die in Iraq to prolong the delusion that Iraq isn't getting bombed back to the stone age.

[j0hnwi11iams]

Neocons like kristol don't want "victory" in Iraq. The last thing they want is for the war to end. They want it to spread until the middle east is a crater. Except for Israel.

[ianlou]

"This is the orphan defense used by the kid who killed his parents" Well Put TonyWikrent! The only just cause for this war at this point is, "If we let go of the tigers tail now, then what"?

[tonywikrent]

On a more substantive note: Notice that Kristol never mentions the War on Terrorism. The neo-cons have run through a gamut of excuses for their war; now they are down to arguing that we're in a war, and, by golly, we just can't afford to lose it. Oh, and it's a "just war," too. This is the orphan defense used by the kid who killed his parents, plain and simple.

[tonywikrent]

The greatest service William Kristol and other neo-cons can do for the United States at this point would be to follow Milton Friedman to the Judgement Seat.

[scott4261]

Moment of Truth

A few observations of the American political climate:

People are fed up with this war. Katrina ripped open the sore of poverty and the growing disparity between rich and poor. Weather is irratic - giving warmer than normal temperatures in some areas and deep freezes in others.

I believe the country is so uneasy that a new progressive populist movement has begun. The early primaries map for 2008 also bares this out. Take Arizona, New Mexico, and Arkansas - each are more purple than they are blue or red. Each are states to watch as the campaigns unfold over the next year and a half.

For Poli Sci junkies like me, 2008 is going to be a very interesting election year!

[gray_owl_55]

Moment of truth for the GOP? You bet!!! Until the GOP regains control from the radical irrational right wing extremists they will continue to be a minority party. The policies of the religious right and the Neocons only benefit a select few, NOT the majority of Americans.

Kristol talks about "victory in a just war"? The Neocon foreign policy (from a primer on Neoconservitism)is %u201Cthe belief that the U.S. military must control the world, or else the world will descend into chaos%u201D. WMD was the false pretext for implimenting this policy. Arguing about which tactic to use "to win" in Iraq is intended to be a distraction so we won%u2019t question how bad the policy is. If you don't support the policy you don't support the troops, is another false distractor.

Until the GOP returns to a moderate centerest position. Stop mindlessly repeating sound bites and talking points, and start thinking for themselves. Nothing about the party will change. The same applies to DEMS.

[bluestardad]

razzl; well spoken like Jefferson himself, or Searingtruth. right on the mark.

[bm6005]

Try the new 3rd party... Unity'08!!