Dec 29 2006
Lieberman Controls DC With Bush
Make no mistake about it. The Democrats are not in control of the Congress, Sen Joe Lieberman is. He is passionate about the war on terror, as he demonstrated in continuing on and winning his bid to retain his Senate seat. And if he thinks the Democrats would attempt to cripple the war effort and/or expose Israel to dire risk he would switch alliances in a heart beat and give control of the Senate back to the Reps. Make no mistake. And, as Mac Ranger points out, he has made his position clear in an Op Ed in the Washington Post:
I’ve just spent 10 days traveling in the Middle East and speaking to leaders there, all of which has made one thing clearer to me than ever: While we are naturally focused on Iraq, a larger war is emerging. On one side are extremists and terrorists led and sponsored by Iran, on the other moderates and democrats supported by the United States. Iraq is the most deadly battlefield on which that conflict is being fought. How we end the struggle there will affect not only the region but the worldwide war against the extremists who attacked us on Sept. 11, 2001.
Because of the bravery of many Iraqi and coalition military personnel and the recent coming together of moderate political forces in Baghdad, the war is winnable. We and our Iraqi allies must do what is necessary to win it.
…
This bloodshed, moreover, is not the inevitable product of ancient hatreds. It is the predictable consequence of a failure to ensure basic security and, equally important, of a conscious strategy by al-Qaeda and Iran, which have systematically aimed to undermine Iraq’s fragile political center. By ruthlessly attacking the Shiites in particular over the past three years, al-Qaeda has sought to provoke precisely the dynamic of reciprocal violence that threatens to consume the country.
On this point, let there be no doubt: If Iraq descends into full-scale civil war, it will be a tremendous battlefield victory for al-Qaeda and Iran. Iraq is the central front in the global and regional war against Islamic extremism.
…
One colonel followed me out of the meeting with our military leaders in Ramadi and said with great emotion, “Sir, I regret that I did not have the chance to speak in the meeting, but I want you to know on behalf of the soldiers in my unit and myself that we believe in why we are fighting here and we want to finish this fight. We know we can win it.”
…
As the hostile regimes in Iran and Syria appreciate — at times, it seems, more keenly than we do — failure in Iraq would be a strategic and moral catastrophe for the United States and its allies. Radical Islamist terrorist groups, both Sunni and Shiite, would reap victories simultaneously symbolic and tangible, as Iraq became a safe haven in which to train and strengthen their foot soldiers and Iran’s terrorist agents. Hezbollah and Hamas would be greatly strengthened against their moderate opponents. One moderate Palestinian leader told me that a premature U.S. exit from Iraq would be a victory for Iran and the groups it is supporting in the region. Meanwhile, the tens of thousands of Iraqis who have bravely stood with us in the hope of a democratic future would face the killing fields.
Lieberman just laid down the gauntlet and the Senate Dems better not even pretend to challenge him. There is no option in Iraq except success. Those who authorized this war cannot back out now. They voted and all the claims of ignorance in the world are not going to save them from the fact we are in this and must win. Crying about how hard it is not an answer to anythying – though it does give comfort to our enemies. That much is for sure. I find it embarrassing any adult would complain about how it has taken over 3 years to complete our task in Iraq when it takes more than three years to design a satellite for space, or to get a child through high school, or a million other efforts that pale in comparison to rebuilding a ravaged nation while our enemies do all they can to stop us. The whiners are just demonstrating their limitations – not ours. It is time for the left to stop wailing about how unfair and hard life is and either chip in or simply be quiet. a silent lack of help is much better than a whining lack of help any day of the week.
AJ maunders again at the feet of a Jewish racist whose prime goal is that America–at any cost–save Israel’s hide.
It is not the “Left” which verified we cannot “win” in Iraq; it was the
cross-ideological section of the Iraq Study Group. More than three years to get a child through high school…it takes more than that to teach Strata simply analogy…
You see AJ, if the child was at square one after three years rather than
an accomplished junior?….you might put him in a different school.
I reccommend the Rio Grande border area….
AJ, I wish I could share your high opinion of the senator, but I think if he’s given a plum chairmanship, he’ll sing another tune. Remember how his cherished ideals vanished at the thought of living at the U.S. Naval Observatory. He’s giving smarmy a bad name.
Erp,
I am not sure I have a high opinion of him as much as I know how power flows in DC. With that said, Lieberman was the VP and was required to do and say what Gore wanted during the campaign. That is how these things work. Lieberman respects the process of government. As much as he respected Al Gore’s role as presidential candidate and Bush’s role as Commander In Chief he held his opinions and crafted his differences without disrespect to either man. Do not mistake respect and taking a back seat with an inability to grasp the reigns of power and chart his own course. Lieberman can move smoothly and confidentally between both roles.
“Confidently?” Thank God he’s a Woody Allen nerd who whines when he talks.
LOL!
Tell that to your hero Ned Lamont, Ken!
Remember, however much you try to tear down Lieberman you lower yourself further, given the whooping you folks took with Ned! SENATOR Lieberman has already proven his worth over your nutroots Ken.
Too funny.
I am now glad I voted for Lieberman for his first run for Senate in Connecticut over the Republican whose name I now forget! I think he may be the only Democrat I ever voted for in my life.
Lieberman has only proven his dual loyalty exceeds his loyalty to the
Democratic Party.
Let me correct his speech’s glaring errors further. The original “moderates and Democrats” Bush and his neocons supported in Iraq eg. Chalapi, turned out to be Iranian agents.
Sistani, whom you placed hapless hope in a week or so ago, vetoed
Allawi and the others-there are none left in Iraq for the US to manipulate into power-any who were thus determined to be would be assassinated. The very fact you grasp onto Sistani shows how desperate you are, as he is firmly anti-American. Lieberman is either lying about “moderate forces” coming together in Iraq–to justify his jumping on a sinking ship..or he is an imbecile. The “tens of thousands” of pro-American “democrats” he infers have stood with us
do not exist, at least in any potentially influential capacity in Iraq.
The “moderate Palestinian leader” he has to anonomyously quote
(who would be killed if believed to be friendily confabbing with Lieberman) is probably a Sunni who fears Shia intrusion into
his domain and who is playing Lieberman but who is as anti-American
as the Shia.
Lieberman simply wants the US to stay in the Mideast in large numbers until the area is pacified for Israel’s sake—an impossibility, dear Strata.
AJ, You’re right that as his running mate, Lieberman had to echo Gore’s statements. My issue with him is that knowing that he disagreed with Gore’s positions, why did he accept the nomination?
BTW — is nutroots your construct. I don’t think I’ve seen it before. It’s great.
Nothing original about AJ–his Bush adulation is even exceeded by
Mikesamerica.blogspot.com.
Erp,
“Nutroots” was coined by my blogging buddy Mark Coffey at Decision 08.
AJStrata
http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_riverbendblog_archive.html#116738820591750213
if it weren’t for me, the pompous ugly Americans who” care”,of course, about Iraqis , would never read Iraqi bloggers. Well,here is perhaps the most-read Iraqi blogger’s take on 2006. Read only if you care how Iraqis feel.
“One colonel followed me out of the meeting with our military leaders in Ramadi and said with great emotion, “Sir, I regret that I did not have the chance to speak in the meeting, but I want you to know on behalf of the soldiers in my unit and myself that we believe in why we are fighting here and we want to finish this fight. We know we can win it.â€
…The terrorists know they can’t defeat the US military. Only the American left can destroy the US military. John Kerry and his supporters destroyed South Vietnam. He and the other senators
that visited Syria recently, along with their US supporters delivered a
clear message to every terrorist that opposes the US; just hold on and we’ll help you win.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/12/28/D8M9VVQO0.html
the majority of the soldiers quoted in this article contradict
Lieberman’s alleged sympathizers, Pager.
http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2006/12/joe-liebermans-declaration-of-war-on.html
Glenn Greenwald dissects Lieberman’s modus operandi more acutely than Strata dissects the Litvenenko affair.
Just proves my point. American leftists prove support to the terrorists.
And American pseudo-rightists discredit the Right by supporting Israel’s state terrorism and America’s illegal invasion of Iraq.
Confidently?†Thank God he’s a Woody Allen nerd who whines when he talks.
How like a liberal idiot to make fun of someone for the way they look or the way they sound. This just shows everyone what you are (if they ever had any doubt about it).
Most of us know a lot about some things but has any one noticed Ken knows everything about everything. He thinks he needs to instruct nd correct us on this site about our blatant errors of judgement. I’ve got news for him. I don’t need a liberal America- hating idiot with a skewed view of the world and the way it works to advise me on anything. Ken has a mindset and only looks for liberal outlets to back up his fantasies. He doesn’t look to see what the truth is. He already knows his truth. He only seeks justification for his truth and anything else is trivia.
Yea, Barbara and notice it’s not a liberal site he’s showing his “brilliance” on. If he went to some of the liberal sites I’ve visited, they would laugh at him. The reason, he never get anything right. Never. So if he went to those sites, he would still be wrong.
He actually in under the perception that at some point he was a conservative. The only possible reason he could think that is that he has absolutely no idea what t conservative is.
He has the same problems such as people like Pat Buchanan, just because at some time in the past he may have been one, once you drop every single principle of conservatives and start spouting far left drivel, then you are not a conservative. A former conser still referring to themself as a conser, doesn’t make it true. But talking of Ken that way is a waste of time. There’s no way he could ever have been one. You had to have been born with the hatred for America that he has. That’s typical of Frenchmen.
Thin margins can make someone as rich as Sam Walton. Because he found two ways to do this. He could PROFIT from the thin margins because he had plenty of customers. And, he cut out cities, towns, and middle-men, by using American roadways as the way to deliver to this “big stores,” sans unionized complaints. Or policemen with ticket books, getting you to violate “the Sabbath,” with Blue Laws.
Once you figure out that it takes genius to make it big in a market where the profits are small; you’ll understand why most people can’t do it.
And, this “war on terror?” The bigger problem is that Bush is like his dad. And, he NEVER WANTS to make the hard decisions! So he coasts along. And, things get worse. (But we’ve been living with this “thing” for more than fifty years. We have unworkable diplomacy and spin. Which provides a lot of people with enough money to pay their mortgages. But the truth? You’ve got to read Alice in Wonderland if you want to hear the truth, now.
Mark Steyn noticed that Bush has been at a standstill for years. Nothing bold about the way he thinks at all. And, with James Baker? You know the Saudis are represented. And, what do they want? Real estate.
It’s a good thing for things to be standing still, since giving the Saud’s more real estate would be criminal.
While in the senate, Joe Lieberman is moving WITH McCain. (And, McCain isn’t liked by the GOP!) For some reason the GOP is happy with its brainless dudes. From Warren Harding. To Gerald Ford. To both the Bush family mafia presidents. Who knows why?
Gerald Ford was on the Warren Commission. The “inventors” of the “single bullet theory” that saw John F. Kennedy murdered in Dallas. Do you know what’s interesting? He was the last living member of that forgettable commission. No longer even discussed. Let alone that anyone believes those “findings” to be true.
But there ya go. Gerald Ford, according to the GOP insiders, had just the “right” resume for all the jobs he got. In a more serious time, this would be laughable. But what can I tell ya? And, least McCain and Joe Lieberman have brains. And, while you don’t see it. They seem to have galvanized some of the senators away from the Massa2shits breed. While the “right” happy’s itself on lightwieghts. Just so you remember.