I thought I was tough on the Democrat Iraq plan for surrender and retreat in my previous post. But Michael Goodwin tears into the Dems in his New York Daily News column in such a way as to make me think I under estimated the damage the Dems did to themselves:

With world attention focused on Israel’s war with Hezbollah, leading Democrats have finally settled on a position on Iraq. Surprise, they’re for a retreat. They’re wrong and they have picked a terrible time to wave the white flag to terrorists.

Hear, hear! It is a wonder the Democrats have used this moment to bring hope back to the terrorists. We will win this fight when they Arab and Muslim world realize it is a futile battle and co-existance is the only option. Renewed calls for our surrender renews the hopes of those trying to kill us. Have they forgotten that 9-11 was concocted in the after math of our impotence in response to attacks over 20 years? Goodwin has another good point:

Pelosi told The Washington Post a reason for the letter was Bush’s plan to shift more U.S. troops to Baghdad. That’s bizarre. Since that’s where most of the mayhem is taking place, putting extra troops there makes sense as the last hope of saving Iraq’s government.

But Pelosi and Reid work in strange ways. After months of seeing which way the political winds are blowing for the midterm elections, they’re obviously trying to take advantage of the war’s unpopularity. As such, they have set up a clear difference between the parties.

But they’re doing it while our troops are still fighting and dying there. And they’re undermining Israel as it battles Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. They have, in Margaret Thatcher’s famous phrase, gone wobbly. While there’s never a good time for weak knees, now is about the worst.

Leaders sitting back in DC in their cushy offices with their doting staff to bring them refreshments at the wave of a hand in between limousine stops should never, I repeat never, quite before those on the battlefield have given up. Our military has preformed miraculously and paid with life and limb to get us this far. And we are very far. Much of the country is transitioning into Iraq control and a strong majority of the country appreciate our efforts and want our support (see the ads here from the Kurds).

When you put the ads up from the grateful Kurdish people and then think back on those pictures (Graphic Warning) of a Kurdish village wiped out in a deadly chemical weapons attack by Saddam’s regime, the impact of the Democrat position strikes home. If we cannot stand to defend ourselves, or those who are being brutalized in the name of political cowardice, then we stand for nothing. We stand for self interest and not caring. We stand for hiding behind our borders and pretending the world does not exist.

The old view of the Iraqi Kurds is that of a brutally oppressed people. The new view, with no thanks to the left in this country, is of a vibrant and happy people exploring the opportunity of the 21st century. The Democrats have made their selection. They prefer the old way.