Replies

Send the GOP and Lugar a letter about this. This has ticked me off more than anything else that has been said about the war. Here are my letters:

Dear Chairman Gillespie-

I’m not a big contributor to the party, but I send in what I can. I am 100% behind the President, his policy in Iraq, and his re-election in November. I currently have friends in Iraq and my National Guard unit will eventually send me to Afghanistan or Iraq within the next year. However, the recent comments by Sen. Lugar concerning Iraq (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4121610,00.html) have depressed me more than any other in the litany of attacks on President Bush. I see the Democrats hoping for a failure in Iraq and now we have a Republican Senator playing into their hands.

Why do I bother to support the party and vote Republican when its leaders snipe at each other? This is a critical time. Our men and women in Iraq will do everything they can to stay strong and give us victory. However, I’m convinced that there are forces in Washington and in the media who will do everything they can to ensure a defeat. Defeat, if it comes, will happen in America, not in Iraq as our national will crumbles. Senator Lugar seems to be seeking political cover for himself, rather than providing the necessary support that we so critically need. He seems to be positioning himself to survive a loss of national will by making statements that will “wash” his hands of the Iraqi situation. The whole thing saddens me.

So I ask: Why should I send money to the GOP when its leadership is beginning to fracture and run for cover?

SIGNED

Dear Senator Lugar-

I saw the following article:

GOP Senator Rips Bush on Iraq, Terrorism
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4121610,00.html

Now I know that President Bush’s plan for Iraq is doomed. While our boys are winning on the battlefields in Iraq, the war is being lost on the home front. It’s bad enough that the Democrats have politicized the war effort and are doing everything to rip the President over the war so as to win in November. Now we can’t even get Senate Republicans to support the President. I now have ZERO confidence in our victory since your comments will be used to tear down the Administration on the home front and to cast doom-and-gloom on the efforts of our young men and women in Iraq.

I’ve never felt this sad as an American. I am demoralized. We have inflicted far more damage to ourselves with our defeatist talk than we have received from our enemies. I used to think that my leaders in Washington would LEAD us to victory, no matter what the cost. But now I think they would rather seek political cover, wash their hands, and lead themselves in another political campaign.

SIGNED