There He Goes Again

Karl Rove is clearly back in the saddle as could be seen in today's Congressional debate over the Iraq war and a resolution calling Iraq a central front in the war on terror. One bright light Congressman said if Cong John Murtha was around at the time of Normandy we would be all speaking German. Others called it a vote for al qaeda or for America. Obviously this is the setup or the congressional election.

In a 256-153 vote that mirrored the position taken by the Senate earlier, the GOP-led House approved a nonbinding resolution that praises U.S. troops, labels the Iraq war part of the larger global fight against terrorism and says an "arbitrary date for the withdrawal or redeployment" of troops is not in the national interest

of course they do have this problem: (cnn):

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A narrow majority of Americans -- 53 percent -- favors setting a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq, with 47 percent saying the deadline should be in a year or less, according to a CNN poll released Friday.

Among those who favor setting a deadline of a year or less, opinions also are divergent. The survey found 13 percent of Americans want withdrawal within a few weeks; 15 percent want it in six months; and 19 percent want it in a year.

The poll also showed Americans' approval of the way President Bush is handling the Iraq war is up 5 points from May's poll to 39 percent, while his disapproval rating fell 8 points, to 54 percent.

Along the same lines of the war on terror = war in Iraq you -know - who was back at it again, linking Saddam to 9/11 or at least repeats of 9/11. Something he insists he doesn't do. And he chose to unload this beaut to that crack journalist Sean Hannity:

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I think that's right, Sean. The distinction I see here is that there's a failure on their part to understand, or refusal to understand, that this isn't just about Iraq, that it, in fact, is about the broader global war on terror, that this is a global conflict that everybody should be aware of by now. There have been attacks all over the world, in London and Madrid and Bali and Istanbul, as well as New York and Washington; that the key to our success to date has been to actively and aggressively go on offense. Pre-9/11, the policies that were pursued by the U.S. government were not aggressive at all. There was no price really extracted for those who launched attacks against the United States, right up until 9/11 -- 9/11, of course, and this President changed all that.

And Iraq is very much a part of that, in the sense the key is to change circumstances in that part of the world that in fact generated those people who have launched those attacks against the United States. Before 9/11, you might be able to think about retiring behind our oceans and being safe. After 9/11, we know that's not possible. We know 19 guys on 9/11 with box-cutters and airline tickets killed 3,000 Americans.

Iraq is important, just as Pakistan is important and Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan and all of those countries in that part of the world where we've seen terrorism blossom as it did in Afghanistan, obviously. We've gone in aggressively and dealt with it, and that's exactly what we're doing in Iraq. Iraq was a safe haven for terrorists it had a guy running it who had started two wars, who had produced and used weapons of mass destruction. Taking down Saddam Hussein was exactly the right thing to do.

It's also, I think, in part responsible for the fact that we haven't been hit again in nearly five years. That's no accident. The fact is, we've taken the battle to the enemy. That's been the key to the safety and security of the American people these last few years, and we need to continue to do it. And we need to make certain that Iraq doesn't become a failed state, but instead the Iraqi people have an opportunity for self-government. And that's exactly what we're doing.

I will say this if zarqawi's capture means a turning point to stability in iraq then it will be a great thing, IMO more likely this will just highlight the fact that the al qaeda portion of the insurgency is about 10% of the problem and the country is in civil war. In fact any weakness in al qaeda would just highlight this fact to anyone willing to look critically at the situation.

Comments

[Strom Billig]

We lost a big chance to have him taken out and executed. That MIck prosecutor dropped the ball; hitting the single malts too hard. Rove and Novak should have been marched out to a firing squad for compromising a CIA operative. Oh well, better luck next time.

[koznitzer]

Strom Billig, you are one sick f**k!