Who Can Really Say?

Object Lessons

Never let success stand in the way of defeat.

While pushing for an exit strategy, Reid, D-Nevada, also said it would be a mistake to set a deadline for the withdrawal of American forces. “That’s not a wise decision because it only empowers those who don’t want us there,” he said in a joint appearance with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California.

In remarks at the National Press Club, Reid said that Sunday’s elections in Iraq marked “a first step in helping figure out a way that the U.S. can get out of Iraq. ... We have to figure out a way to remove ourselves from there with dignity.”

Reid might want to pull Sen. Ted over and whisper that advice in his ear. As for the "figuring out part", it isn't hard to find the exit strategy because we've been following it all along. Reid simply refuses to see it. The strategy is to continue to build from success to success, learning from errors and circumstances as they develop, and not allowing defeatism to distract from the ultimate goal of enabling a free, democratic Iraq that will a) be a potential inspiration to other Middle Eastern countries, b) not be a terror threat to the US and c) be an object lesson to other governments that support terror. It's not really that hard to figure out. When those criteria are met, the troops will come home.

Really, the only thing the Democrats have gotten right about Iraq since 1991 was Bill Clinton's support for regime change there in 1998. And it's an object lesson that Clinton's position, the position of the only two term Democratic President since FDR, has been so quickly forgotten or ignored.

[Linked to the Beltway Traffic Jam].

Posted by Peter at January 31, 2005 06:23 PM