What's wrong with right?

With the resurgence of talk lately of a planned date of withdrawal from Iraq there is nothing I can do but shake my head at the stupidity of many of our politicians. Apparently the democrats, and those few weak-kneed republicans who have turned on the president’s plan for Iraq lately, have very short memories. It was only 30 some years ago, (when all of them were alive by the way) that we made an early exit from Vietnam and watched as the massacre that we knew would come ensued.

For those of you who may be wondering why it is such a bad idea to set a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq let me explain using an analogy.

Imagine that you are at the final table at the World Series of Poker. After everyone at the table is eliminated save you and one other guy the casino dumps the 5 million dollars cash down in front of you and you both gaze upon the money greedily. After playing a few hands of poker you lean over the table and tell the other player that you just remembered that your wife was making your favorite dish for dinner and you were only going to hang around for one more hour and then quit regardless of whether or not you had won. Any sane poker player would fold his cards until that hour was over and then claim victory as soon as you had left. It would be the only smart play that a person could make given the situation.

If we set a date to leave Iraq then we are just like the guy who told his opponent he was leaving the game early. We might as well pack up and leave right now instead of waiting around because it would be cheaper. Setting a date to leave will only embolden the terrorists to stick it out until our military is completely gone, whereupon they could come out from hiding and really start to wreak some havoc. Essentially that is what they are doing now. They make sure to kill a few people every day, set off a few bombs, and talk the big talk just to make headlines. They do what they have to do to remind the world that they are there and America is failing at what it is doing. The truth however, is much different. Sure terrorists make headlines with each day but they aren’t making significant headway. If we would just fight this war militarily instead of politically we would finish them off once and for all.

If people think that by setting a timeline we are somehow encouraging the Iraqi government to shape things up they are dead wrong. How many times of late have we heard Iraqi officials say that they still need our help? How many times must they ask for our help before we realize that they are serious? If we leave Iraq now not only are we condemning decent Iraqi people to prolonged and intense misery, we are losing a possible ally in the Middle East (of which we so desperately need).

Politicians that are for a planned withdrawal need to get their heads out of their fourth point of contact and wake up to reality. They need to study history and then think about more than just pleasing their constituents. Since when was doing the right thing the wrong thing to do?

There is a very good reason: The Democrats support al-Qaeda and hate the United States as it is now conforming. They want to change the country into a socialist dictatorship with total control of every aspect of our lives. What they do not understand or are too stupid to know is that if they allow al-Qaeda to win they will take over and all of us will either die, be slaves or be converted to Islam.

There are millions of p[people in this country that HATE freedom and want the government in control of everything. Two new laws are under way to establish a list (compiled by the government) of those who may purchase a weapon. Once on the list there is NO way to be removed. So if you are a Conservative and an American and a Christian then you will most likely be placed on the list and be a criminal forever.

The second law will outlaw shotguns and other weapons that can be used to protect ones self and their family. The people who want these laws could care less about us. They are mostly rich and have their own body guards so they could care less about the general population.

And never think that someone will support and defend the Constitution. When the Sharia law is put on the books all federal and local police will be enforcing it full time.

Imagine that you are at the final table at the World Series of Poker. [...]

This is a decent analogy that illustrates why it is bad, strategically, to announce a quitting date. There is only one problem:

The Left doesn't care about winning, let alone strategy. Scratch that: they actively don't want to win.

The Left does not want to see us succeed in Iraq. The Left does not want any of our goals in Iraq to be achieved. The Left's primary aim is to ensure that the United States not use its military, in particular, or wield power, in general. Were the U.S. to achieve goals in Iraq, that would validate military force on some level, and so the Left must prevent that, by preventing us from achieving any goals.

So to "win the pot", in your analogy, is precisely what the Left is seeking to avoid. Evaluated that way, it makes perfect sense for them to announce a quitting date.

What doesn't make sense is for (R)s to go along with it in the moronic hopes that they can ride antsy poll numbers to victory by being somewhat-quitters.

Sure terrorists make headlines with each day but they aren’t making significant headway. If we would just fight this war militarily instead of politically we would finish them off once and for all.

Exactly. Precisely why the Left must prevent our military from participating at all.

How many times of late have we heard Iraqi officials say that they still need our help? How many times must they ask for our help before we realize that they are serious?

Good questions, but how many times must the Left whine that we need to retreat, before you realize that they don't care what actually happens in Iraq, or to Iraqis, let alone the Iraqi government?

Again, the important thing is to hobble U.S. power.

If we leave Iraq now not only are we condemning decent Iraqi people to prolonged and intense misery, we are losing a possible ally in the Middle East (of which we so desperately need).

Two birds with one stone, from the Left's point of view.

1. The Left doesn't want us to have Middle East allies. It's convenient for them and their policy goals that we have Middle East enemies who make things like buying oil difficult for us. If we had allies that would be "hegemony" and we would only become more powerful, which is bad because we are evil and greedy.

2. The Left deep down thinks it's probably best if the Iraqis are seen to suffer as a result of our Illegitimate War, to serve as a valuable lesson: the U.S. should never use force against a dictator again, and no one should ever trust the U.S. to do so either. Alleviating Iraqis' suffering is certainly NOT anywhere on the Left's agenda; they have not a single proposal for doing so.

Politicians that are for a planned withdrawal need to get their heads out of their fourth point of contact and wake up to reality.

Not really. Most of them have perfectly rational motives, if you just understand their goals as I have explained them above.

The exception being the few stupid (R)s who are currently going along with the quitters for idiotic reasons...

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.