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Rove Is Right - (heaven forbid that these complaining liberals EVER were to run this country!)
DAVID LIMBAUGH.COM ^ | JUNE 27, 2005 | DAVID LIMBAUGH

Posted on 06/27/2005 8:26:30 PM PDT by CHARLITE

Given the liberals' endless drumbeat against the War on Terror -- Iraq theater -- and their preoccupation with indicting America, the Bush administration and the military for our treatment of prisoners in Gitmo and elsewhere, it's just a little silly that they would take umbrage with Karl Rove's "controversial" remarks.

Instead of debating whether Rove meant to indict the entirety of liberaldom in his speech to the New York Conservative Party, or just the Moveon.org types, to which he specifically referred, we should be careful not to miss the thrust of his message.

Regardless of whether most liberals and Democrats initially supported military action against Afghanistan -- and even Iraq after being led kicking and screaming by overwhelming popular support to endorse the attack -- far too many of them have been fighting President Bush over almost every other aspect of this war since it began.

But we can even set that aside for the moment. Instead, let's just fast forward to the present. Is there any doubt that liberals recommend a radically different approach to the war than most conservatives?

The liberals' general attitude toward the war and the treatment of prisoners both seem to flow out of their blind spot concerning the nature of war and of our enemy -- and that's being charitable.

The war on terror is global in scope with Iraq being its current primary venue. The terrorists are not a criminal gang, but a war enemy of the worst kind. This enemy doesn't honor the normal rules of war, such as trying to minimize casualties to civilians by not mixing in with them (wearing uniforms) and not targeting them for attack.

Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr, who served under George H.W. Bush, in a recent interview with Fox News' Brit Hume set the record straight on our historic treatment of war prisoners, whom we've never treated as criminals entitled to constitutional rights. In fact, Barr noted, the maligned Bush administration has insisted on conferring far more rights on these prisoners than the law requires.

The Framers, said Barr, wrote the Constitution "not for the world, but the American people." They provided that when the government is enforcing laws against its own citizens, those citizens should have maximum protections to ensure that innocent people are not incarcerated -- even at the risk of letting guilty people go free.

"But when a foreign enemy comes and attacks the people there is no neutrality." Our concern then is to win the war and "we cannot hamstring the military by imposing all the standards that we apply domestically to law enforcement."

When we capture terrorists fighting against us on the battlefield, our inquiry -- preferably to be adjudicated by military tribunals -- should be to determine whether they are enemy combatants of the United States. If so, we should hold them -- as we always have -- for the duration of the war, because the purpose of the detention is not punishment, but national security -- to keep them from returning to the battlefield (or the streets of America, for that matter) and killing us.

Indeed, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld reminded us in a separate interview on Fox, that of the prisoners we have released from Gitmo, we've "already found 12 of them back on the battlefield trying to kill innocent men, women and children." Isn't it manifestly worse, in the context of war, to risk allowing the guilty to go free so any one of them could come back and kill 50 innocent people?

Secretary Rumsfeld also provided compelling answers to other liberal criticisms. Here's a brief summary: 1) the "insurgents" in Iraq are not idealists with a vision or revolutionaries fighting some tyrannical regime, but enemies of the Iraqi people trying to destroy their newly elected democratic government; 2) our troop levels in Iraq are being driven by the military commanders in the field, who are trying to achieve a delicate balance between a level of troops sufficient to engage the enemy and train Iraqi security forces versus that number that would make us an easier target at greater risk, and could also alienate the Iraqi people against America (as occupiers); 3) our commitment to this war can't be governed by polls; 4) we have a policy against torture and inhumane treatment of enemy prisoners, and all known violators of the policy have been punished, but holding prisoners for the duration of the war does not constitute torture; and 5) regardless of the opinions of armchair civilian "generals" at home, including politicians, the three leading commanders on the ground have testified strongly that we are not in a quagmire in Iraq.

No matter. Liberals will continue to call it a quagmire, characterizing it as a contained revolutionary war and not part of the war on terror, and undermine our cause there -- such as recklessly demanding that we telegraph our withdrawal date. And they will continue to say we are torturing war prisoners.

Can you imagine the implications for our national security and world freedom if they were in charge and their criticisms were converted into policy? Karl Rove obviously can, and he deserves praise for calling a spade a spade.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: democrats; detainees; donaldrumsfeld; genevaconvention; guantanamo; iraq; karlrove; liberals; presidentbush; rove; roveisright; rovewasright; speech; waronterror

1 posted on 06/27/2005 8:26:32 PM PDT by CHARLITE
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To: ThreePuttinDude; Beth528; SMARTY; Ghost of Philip Marlowe; CyberAnt; nothingnew; Cornpone; ...
Ping!

Char :)

2 posted on 06/27/2005 8:28:40 PM PDT by CHARLITE (I propose a co-Clinton team as permanent reps to Pyonyang, w/out possibility of repatriation....)
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To: CHARLITE

bump


3 posted on 06/27/2005 8:31:52 PM PDT by wingman1 (University of Vietnam 1970)
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To: CHARLITE
THE DEMOCRATS ARE GONNA GET US KILLED (kerry, clinton + sandy berger's pants) SERlES 3


THE DEMOCRATS ARE GONNA GET US KILLED (kerry, clinton + sandy berger's pants) SERlES 2

4 posted on 06/27/2005 8:38:21 PM PDT by Mia T (Stop Clintons' Undermining Machinations (The acronym is the message.))
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To: CHARLITE

A sociological theory that explains much of what is going on is that roughly half of a population at any given time are clinically insane. That half would be our liberals.


5 posted on 06/27/2005 8:39:08 PM PDT by SpaceBar
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To: CHARLITE

>>The terrorists are not a criminal gang, but a war enemy of the worst kind. This enemy doesn't honor the normal rules of war, such as trying to minimize casualties to civilians by not mixing in with them (wearing uniforms) and not targeting them for attack.<<

"Can you imagine the implications for our national security and world freedom if they were in charge and their criticisms were converted into policy? Karl Rove obviously can, and he deserves praise for calling a spade a spade."

Can you imagine the implications for our national security when our borders are wide open to all who wish to come across them?

"he deserves praise for calling a spade a spade."

The man tells the truth only by sheer accident.

I wouldn't want Rove to give my wife directions on how to get to the restroom in the White House.


6 posted on 06/27/2005 8:41:40 PM PDT by B4Ranch ( Report every illegal alien that you meet. Call 866-347-2423, Employers use 888-464-4218)
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To: CHARLITE
I'm not convinced that these complaining liberals don't run the country. All Americans are losing freedoms through horrendous Court decisions - such as the right to life, (Terri Schiavo), and the recent SCOTUS ruling regarding private property. Meanwhile, Christianity, (and religion in general), is being openly opposed by government much the same as it is in Communist countries. And I don't see any conservative politicians standing up and fighting back for us.

The liberal Courts are calling most of the shots in this country, and the liberal politicians are making damn sure that Bush isn't prosecuting the war in Iraq the way it should be fought. I can add to this mix the blatantly liberal side of many 'conservative' Republicans, such as the President's disdain for U.S. borders and his love for illegal aliens. Then you have other 'conservative' Republicans who are pro-abortion, and still others who are too damn timid to stand up to the liberals they disagree with.

Though we-the-people have elected 'conservative' Republicans to dominate both Houses, the Administrative Branch and the Governorships, our country is still being pushed down the suicidal slope of socialism, liberalism and secularism. I'm inclined to think that modern politicians are essentially all the same, regardless of which party or which end of the political spectrum they claim to be in.

7 posted on 06/27/2005 8:44:57 PM PDT by TheCrusader
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To: CHARLITE

BAWHahahaha........

8 posted on 06/27/2005 8:45:37 PM PDT by austinmark (Torture? Koran abuse? ... I'd Rather Be A Koran In Gitmo THAN A Bible in Saudi Arabia !!!)
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To: CHARLITE

Karl Rove should keep on going because he entertains me, and also because he does what the Dems DREAM of doing. Dean doesn't get Republicans mad, he makes us happy, while Rove drives the Dems insane with hatred. His political instincts are such that Dean is shown to be a schoolboy who the headmaster occassionally smacks with a switch.


9 posted on 06/27/2005 8:48:25 PM PDT by Dr.Hilarious (If Al Qaeda took over the judiciary and mainstream media, would we know the difference?)
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To: CHARLITE
In fact, Barr noted, the maligned Bush administration has insisted on conferring far more rights on these prisoners than the law requires. Indeed. I like all the liberals who keep screaming about Geneva convention rights. They obviously have no clue what they're talking about.

These men were captured on a battlefield, engaged in combat against US and allied forces. They were armed, and they were not in uniform.

According to the Geneva Convention, armed people not in uniform on a battlefield are considered to be spies. The commanding officer on the scene can order the execution of spies at any time for any reason (and I do mean any reason. If the officer doesn't like the enemy's haircut that's more than sufficient for an execution. No reason at all is sufficient as well) with no talk, no judges, no jury, no lawyer, no BS. And this is totally, 100 percent, bona fide legal.

The libs might ought to remember that when they keep screaming that we give them their rights under the Geneva Convention. The only thing the convention gurantees is that the last thing they'll here is click-click-boom
10 posted on 06/27/2005 9:07:03 PM PDT by JamesP81
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To: B4Ranch

Have you heard the latest terrorist (insurgent fighter for our leftie friends) attack. One of these devils actually went into a HOSPITAL and blew himself up. Killing 3,(probably Doctors or Nurses) and wounding 13. I wonder what stomach churning excuse the Dums would have for that murerous act. <p. do they even care what kind of enemy we are facing. Or is it they don't consider these animals (apologies to animals)the enemy.


11 posted on 06/28/2005 12:13:38 AM PDT by marty60
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To: JamesP81

Can you even fathom the outrage the Dums and MSM would scream about if this happened. Frankly, I wish they would do it. In WAR the point is to get the enemy to lay down their arms or die. The former is NOT going to happen, so the latter is the obvious correct action.


12 posted on 06/28/2005 12:17:44 AM PDT by marty60
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To: TheCrusader
It starts closer to home. People have the mistaken idea that it's ok to elect a few Dums to their local offices. These people, Mayors, Governors, State Reps, have a lot more influence then most people realize.

People complain when these people set up their little fascist govs and start passing ordinences and State laws that people hate. Dums should not be voted into office I don't care if it's for dog catcher.

13 posted on 06/28/2005 12:25:36 AM PDT by marty60
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