Intellectually Dishonest Republicans on War

In light of Bush ignoring the entire country, generals and Congress to pull troops out of Iraq I found some great information from The Center for American Progress about GOP hypocrisy in military matters:

In Oct. 1994, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) called on President Clinton to withdraw forces from Haiti "as soon as possible." "In my view that does not mean as soon as order is restored to Haiti," he said. "It does not mean as soon as democracy is flourishing in Haiti. It does not mean as soon as we have established a viable nation in Haiti. As soon as possible means as soon we can get out of Haiti without losing any American lives." A year before, in Oct. 1993, McCain argued against giving any strategy the chance to succeed in Somalia. "Mr. President, can anyone seriously argue that another 6 months of United States forces in harm's way means the difference between peace and prosperity in Somalia and war and starvation there? Is that very dim prospect worth one more American life? No, it is not," he said.

Another senator who has displayed intellectual dishonesty over the need for a timetable is Jon Kyl (R-AZ). Recently on CNN, he attacked the withdrawal plan, claiming it was "the first time I know of -- in the middle of a war -- that a country just announces that on a specific date it's walking off the battlefield." But in June 1998, Kyl voted in favor of provisions that called for U.S. forces to "walk off the battlefield" by a certain date in Kosovo and Bosnia. In June 1998, he supported a bill to "require the President to submit Congress a plan for withdrawing United States forces from Bosnia and Herzegovina if the Congress does not so act by March 31, 1999.” In May 2000, Kyl supported an effort by Congress to compel Clinton to withdraw all ground forces from Kosovo by July 1, 2001.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) recently warned that we cannot leave Iraq -- "like we did in Somalia" -- because "we will leave chaos in our wake." Yet, Boehner voted numerous times to limit the deployment of troops in Somalia. On at least two occassions, he supported amendments to move up the deadline to bring toops home from Somalia (House Roll Call Vote #179, 5/22/93 and House Roll Call Vote #555, 11/9/93). He also voted against $1.8 billion in funding for the operation in Somalia (House Roll Call Vote #188, 5/26/93).

Earlier this week, Bush said, "I believe artificial timetables of withdrawal would be a mistake. An artificial timetable of withdrawal would say to an enemy, just wait them out." But in 1999, George W. Bush criticized President Clinton for not setting a timetable for exiting Kosovo, and yet he refuses to apply the same standard to his war. Bush explicitly said, "I think it’s also important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn." Bush also said, "Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is." Now, Bush has taken exactly the opposite position, arguing it's important for the president not to explain the exit strategy.

GOI: This only further solidifies my view that they are opposing time tables and withdrawal plans because they refuse to take responsibility for their disastrous and immoral actions.

The straw man argument that "everything changed" after 9/11 would be dusted off, trotted out and used to defend their bogus war. Yet, a threat is a threat. The is no difference whether al-Qaeda kills Americans or Somalis kill Americans. Either way it's a disaster. So if we should have pulled out of Somalia or Lebanon or Bosnia and Kosovo (and we should have--not sure of the status of American troops in Bosnia and Kosovo though but if indeed they are there then they need to be pulled out unless they are apart of a greater NATO operation.) then why can't and shouldn't we pull out of Iraq? In all those instances American lives were in danger in an unclear mission with no exit strategy.

PHOTO: Doesn't this picture of serial killer Ted Bundy remind you of a young George W. Bush?? A young Bush who grew up into a mass murderer in his own right. The comparisons are freaky.

---End of Transmission---