Liberals Argue By Lying

A report from the A.P. today describes a memo that Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman sent to the Senate, rebuking senator Hilary Clinton for asking the Pentagon questions about how they planned to pull out of Iraq. In the memo, Edelman pointed out that lines of questioning like this, in public, encourage the enemy and provide propaganda. He wrote, "Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia." Pretty frank stuff for a political appointee.

Clinton responded not by addressing Edelman's point, but by blasting Edelman personally and taking shots at President Bush in the process. It was the usual pathetic defense we've seen so many times before by countless liberals who are incapable of defending their ridiculous and illogical positions.

Here is what Clinton's aide said: "Redeploying out of Iraq with the same combination of arrogance and incompetence with which the Bush administration deployed our young men and women into Iraq is completely unacceptable, and our troops deserve far better," and that military leaders should offer a withdrawal plan rather than "a political plan to attack those who question them."

The way the statement is written speaks volumes. First, the whole idea of "redeployment" is completely idiotic. Liberals know that the public doesn't broadly support outright withdrawal from Iraq, so they try and soften it by calling it "redeployment". Calling it something it isn't is dishonest and intended to mislead. This is, I've observed, a common characteristic of liberals' arguments: They won't admit to what they truly believe, and when criticizing conservatives, they intentionally mis-characterize the conservative position.

Second, the idea that President Bush "arrogantly and incompetently" dragged us into Iraq is ludicrous, as he could not have done so without Congress's approval. He made a compelling case at the time, Congress bought it and voted it in, and off we went. So to try and lay this whole thing at the feet of the President is unfair and, again, dishonest.

Third: "Our troops deserve better". This is stupid because no one in their right mind believes that liberals care more about the men and women in our military than conservatives do. The idea that the Left -- from which come colleges that ban military recruiters and allow students to disrupt public events when a conservative tries to speak; from which withdrawals from major combat always come -- wants what's best for the military and the Right does not, is beyond stupid.

Finally, the notion that our military leaders should not be fighting America's enemies in Iraq any more, but instead should be working out withdrawal plans, is cowardly and pathetic. But at least it's finally honest. That really is what they want. However, it's not what the public at large wants, and it's not the right or moral thing to do, in any case. Americans want the war to end, but not for America to lose. If we withdraw, or "redeploy" out of Iraq, the consequences would be disastrous. Liberals claim President Bush alienated our allies by going into Iraq. I don't believe that's true, but if you want to see alienation, pull out of Iraq now, before the job is done, and see what that produces. Bottom line: We should leave when we're finished, and not before. I don't care how long it takes. If it's worth doing, it must be won. Period.

Dennis Prager, the brilliant radio talk show host who I've listened to for decades, has a great motto: "I prefer clarity to agreement" Liberals don't care about clarity, apparently, they act on emotion and just want to win the argument at that moment. If they have to distort their own position to make it seem more palatable, or distort their opponent's position to make it seem more disgusting, they seem to be fine with that. Any way you slice it, it's dishonest and does not at all contribute to arriving at the "most correct" conclusions.