Here's part of the problem. When the American leadership class needs to show some spine, only one political party, the Republicans, can be counted on to keep their nerve and their wits about them.
It is important for the execution of foreign policy for it to be bipartisan, especially in time of war. Sadly, the route to the nomination in the Democratic Party runs straight through Chamberlain Land, as in....
When one political party has neither the nerve nor the will to hold fast to a valuable policy, it remains for the other to lead until they will follow out of shame if nothing else. In this sense, Bush paralells Churchill. The chattering classes of London in the late Thirties were full of venom towards Winston, who had a tendency to tell the unvarnished truth about the Nazis. I see the same flowering of conventional wisdom here. I see the same reasoning on both the Dean Left and the Rockford Institute Right that has, as its result, a rationalization for inaction in the face of Terror. Mr. Churchill's words in the Commons during the debate about the Munich Agreement are prescient here when describing the field to which the Democratic Party would lead us...
I do not grudge our loyal, brave people, who were ready to do their duty no matter what the cost, who never flinched under the strain of last week. I do not grudge them the natural, spontaneous outburst of joy and relief when they learned that the hard ordeal would no longer be required of them at the moment; but they should know the truth. They should know that there has been gross neglect and deficiency in our defences; they should know that we have sustained a defeat without a war, the consequences of which will travel far with us along our road; they should know that we have passed an awful milestone in our history, when the whole equilibrium of Europe has been deranged, and that the terrible words have for the time being been pronounced against the Western democracies."Thou are weighed in the balance and found wanting."
And do not suppose that this is the end. This is only the beginning of the reckoning.This is only the first sip, the first foretaste of a bitter cup which will be proffered to us year by year unless by a supreme recovery of moral health and martial vigour, we arise again and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time.
That's what this is all about. We want the Al Qaeda to come to Iraq to get killed by trained American infantrymen. As I always say, ALWAYS bet on trained platoons of American soldiers, led by young lieutenants with seasoned first sergeants there to hold their hands. People such as this, many who were draftees, won battle after battle against the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Minh Main Force units, real soldiers who were far and away superior to anything the Arab world can offer.
But the Liberals are, in their bottom heart, afraid that Al Qaeda will come to Iraq to try and kill us. Again, understand that Liberalism in this country is undergoing a profound loss of nerve. These people are afraid of Al Qaeda. We believe that this is an opportunity to kill Al Qaeda's best people. That's the difference between liberals and us.
Be Seeing You,
Chris