Leaked Letter Reveals Conservative Strategy For Iraq Debate: Don’t Talk About Iraq
[A] leaked letter obtained…by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s (D-MD) office reveals that conservatives have formulated a strategy to avoid talking about the central question of the debate. In the letter, leading conservative Reps. John Shadegg (R-AZ) and Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) inform their allies: “The debate should not be about the surge or its details. This debate should not even be about the Iraq war to date, mistakes that have been made, or whether we can, or cannot, win militarily. Shadegg and Hoekstra warn, if conservatives are forced to debate “the surge or the current situation in Iraq, we lose.
Nice…we can’t win this debate, so we’ll just sit this one out. Meanwhile, more of our sons and daughters will be sacrificed to a policy designed primarily to help Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader © save face and preserve his legacy. For Republicans, it’s about not only saving face, but not getting labeled by Democrats as supporting a failed policy and a failed war. It’s about politics.
So which is more important- a Republican not providing his opponents ammunition to be used during an election campaign, or trying to save the lives of our sons and daughters in Iraq? Well, if you’re a Republican Congressman, it’s a no-brainer. It’s all about job preservation. It’s about making certain that you don’t have to look as if you’re defending a failed policy and a failed President.
It’s just too bad that Republicans like Shadegg and Hoekstra are more concerned with politics and career preservation than the lives and well-being of young Americans forced to fight a poorly planned and hopelessly inept war. Is it any wonder why Republicans lost in November?
Jeebus, people, isn’t about time we demanded leadership from our Congress? Isn’t it about time we demanded that they put the lives and well-being of our sons and daughters above self-interest and career preservation?
