Artillery Battle

This won’t be theoretical as you know I am not good at that kind of thing. I have a Murtha/Hunter hangover. I watched too much House debate yesterday about the Iraq War. Well, it really was not a debate about the war. It was a set piece artillery battle. Republicans lobbed patriot shells at Murtha and the Democrats for not supporting the troops. Democrats lobbed smear tactics shells at Republicans for trying to besmirch Murtha’s reputation. Someone would jump in for a few seconds and actually say something relevant to the conduct of the war and its future direction. If you were at the fridge, you were sure to miss it. The sad result is that only three Representatives resolved to immediately leave Iraq. I just have to find out the names of those magnificent three.

Oh well, now that the new episodes of Battlestar Galactica are over I need a new space opera to watch on Friday night.

The Republicans have decided to use the 2004 campaign tactic of calling into question the patriotism and willingness to support the troops of anyone who believes that the Iraq can no longer be won militarily. When the Republicans cast that net, they haul in all kinds of folks who are uneasy about the military occupation of Iraq. Some of the folks they catch are the generals fighting the Iraq War. It is no top secret that the generals recognize the war must be won politically and can’t be won militarily. They actually say these things on televised briefing sessions.

What about Congressman Murtha? Could there be anyone more hawkish than he on military affairs? No. Could there be a stronger advocate for military families and a bigger sponsor for aiding them in their hardships and tragedies? No.

I don’t see much hope for the Republicans to convince the public that Murtha is some limousine liberal soft on war. He wants to take the money we would save by pulling out of Iraq and spend it on new weapons systems for the next war. Sure, that fact will bounce right off the heads of the true St. Bush believers, but how many of those are left?

The Iraq War, which has now become unpopular, will spawn its own withdrawal logic from the Republicans during the next year as midterm elections approach. It would seem prudent that the Republican House would fire one last artillery barrage using the last of the patriot shells left in their arsenal. Soften up the enemy before the charge. From now on it is going to be over the top bayonet charges until the next election--the classic war of attrition World War I style. Should the inferior force of Republican sentiment for President Bush be charging the firmly entrenched force of public sentiment against the war? Do Republicans in Congress really believe their own words? Will the mere will to win carry the day against overwhelming odds?

How many more rounds of the patriot and traitor shells does Vice President Cheney have left in his arsenal? He seems to be firing a BB gun these days.

And where is President Bush? He goes to Asia to discuss the potential bird flu pandemic and his Republican House cuts the spending for his bird flu proposal. Do those folks talk at all anymore now that Tom DeLay is in court? Do they even watch each other on TV?

Can anyone say lame duck? Can anyone say lame?

I propose we give those three folks who voted for last night’s resolution an honored place in the history books.