Fox showed today why it dominates cable news, Iraq was the topic and the coverage was deep.
Stephen Hadley was the first guest on Fox as well. The first topic was the major diplomatic victory in Korea. North Korea has announced that it has shut down its nuclear reactor and is prepared to terminate its entire nuclear program. Didn’t the Democrats say that North Korea was hopeless? Where are the congratulations for W on this one?
Britt gave Hadley the chance to describe the very substantial progress in just the last few weeks. On a political level, Hadley was able to draw attention to the establishment of growing political infrastructure like regional election boards; to the growing Coaliton/government/Sunni alliances in Anbar and Diyala provinces; and to the Sunni/Shia reconciliation in the areas where we have driven out the Al Qaeda terrorists who act as “accelerants” of sectarian conflict.
Hadley also pointed to several military accomplishments. The most significant of which have been in Anbar province. Now, seven months later, Al Qaeda has been largely smashed in Anbar. Hadley did indicate that Nouri al-Malaki was trying to accelerate Iraqi military progress but was incorrect in assessing the Iraqi’s capabilities for military self-sufficiency.
Rather than acknowledging any progress, Democrat Senator Carl Levin simply listed on going problems that continue to exist in Iraq. Britt did not let Levin’s dodge slide and most thinking people should understand that the absence of complete victory is not the definition of defeat. The public’s willingness to listen to the Democrats whines, and that is all they have, one long whine, is an amazing tribute to the power of the Main Stream Media and American academia to divorce the conventional wisdom from factual, historical and contextual reality. Its also evidence of how much the White House has abandoned the airwaves to the Democrats and their dangerously misguided ideas about foreign policy.
Humorously, Britt pressed Levin with the lack of progress in the Senate. Levin claimed to have adopted a budget and funded education. Levin went straight back to the talking points about the brutal civil war (as if the US does not have a side in that war) and the need for a political solution. Levin simply ignores the impossibility of having a political solution without a battlefield victory.
Upon being asked about Al Qaeda opposition to political reconciliation Levin responded with just another talking point; Levin then took the position that if there was a political solution the Iraqis would turn on Al Qaeda. Levin then infused more talking points, Iraq gives Al Qaeda propaganda issues, implying that Al Qaeda would lose steam if we leave Iraq. Intelligence, using any definition of that word, utterly disputes such a claim.
Levin deferred every question about Democrat alternatives by ignoring them and simply repeating his talking points. How many troops would the “redeployment” require, where would they go, what specifically would they do?
Strategic analyst Frederick Kagan, of the think tank American Enterprise Institute was the third guest to discuss Iraq. Kagan described the substantial grass roots political progress underway in Iraq, progress that Levin also ignored.
Kagan pointed out that surge operations been in effect since June 15 and that the “surge” is a large scale offensive and that weeks remain before its initial stage is completed. Kagan said Levin’s description of the surge as a failure only four weeks in was “nonsensical”. Indeed.
Kagan described Levin’s claims that civil war in Iraq is a distinct problem from the Al Qaeda campaign as a “false dichotomy”. Al Qaeda’s Iraq plan is integration into the domestic population to create a civil war-by bombing Sunni mosques for example. Perhaps that is why the “sectarian violence” upon which the MSM focuses has declined in Anbar and Diyala. Kagan echoed the theory that Al Qaeda is the cause of the significant source of sectarian violence and defeating them is essential to solving sectarian violence.
Kagan also added that the “surge” has also captured thousands of militia leaders at the same time that it has driven Al Qaeda out of the surge area of operations, also significantly reducing Sunni/Shia conflict. This fact reaffirms the conclusion that it political reconciliation is possible with, and only after, Al Qaeda and other terror groups can no longer influence the political process through brutal violence.
It is amazing how much better Iraq looks when one focuses on facts, context and history and not just body counts in evaluating the real world events of our times.
Stephen Hadley was the first guest on Fox as well. The first topic was the major diplomatic victory in Korea. North Korea has announced that it has shut down its nuclear reactor and is prepared to terminate its entire nuclear program. Didn’t the Democrats say that North Korea was hopeless? Where are the congratulations for W on this one?
Britt gave Hadley the chance to describe the very substantial progress in just the last few weeks. On a political level, Hadley was able to draw attention to the establishment of growing political infrastructure like regional election boards; to the growing Coaliton/government/Sunni alliances in Anbar and Diyala provinces; and to the Sunni/Shia reconciliation in the areas where we have driven out the Al Qaeda terrorists who act as “accelerants” of sectarian conflict.
Hadley also pointed to several military accomplishments. The most significant of which have been in Anbar province. Now, seven months later, Al Qaeda has been largely smashed in Anbar. Hadley did indicate that Nouri al-Malaki was trying to accelerate Iraqi military progress but was incorrect in assessing the Iraqi’s capabilities for military self-sufficiency.
Rather than acknowledging any progress, Democrat Senator Carl Levin simply listed on going problems that continue to exist in Iraq. Britt did not let Levin’s dodge slide and most thinking people should understand that the absence of complete victory is not the definition of defeat. The public’s willingness to listen to the Democrats whines, and that is all they have, one long whine, is an amazing tribute to the power of the Main Stream Media and American academia to divorce the conventional wisdom from factual, historical and contextual reality. Its also evidence of how much the White House has abandoned the airwaves to the Democrats and their dangerously misguided ideas about foreign policy.
Humorously, Britt pressed Levin with the lack of progress in the Senate. Levin claimed to have adopted a budget and funded education. Levin went straight back to the talking points about the brutal civil war (as if the US does not have a side in that war) and the need for a political solution. Levin simply ignores the impossibility of having a political solution without a battlefield victory.
Upon being asked about Al Qaeda opposition to political reconciliation Levin responded with just another talking point; Levin then took the position that if there was a political solution the Iraqis would turn on Al Qaeda. Levin then infused more talking points, Iraq gives Al Qaeda propaganda issues, implying that Al Qaeda would lose steam if we leave Iraq. Intelligence, using any definition of that word, utterly disputes such a claim.
Levin deferred every question about Democrat alternatives by ignoring them and simply repeating his talking points. How many troops would the “redeployment” require, where would they go, what specifically would they do?
Strategic analyst Frederick Kagan, of the think tank American Enterprise Institute was the third guest to discuss Iraq. Kagan described the substantial grass roots political progress underway in Iraq, progress that Levin also ignored.
Kagan pointed out that surge operations been in effect since June 15 and that the “surge” is a large scale offensive and that weeks remain before its initial stage is completed. Kagan said Levin’s description of the surge as a failure only four weeks in was “nonsensical”. Indeed.
Kagan described Levin’s claims that civil war in Iraq is a distinct problem from the Al Qaeda campaign as a “false dichotomy”. Al Qaeda’s Iraq plan is integration into the domestic population to create a civil war-by bombing Sunni mosques for example. Perhaps that is why the “sectarian violence” upon which the MSM focuses has declined in Anbar and Diyala. Kagan echoed the theory that Al Qaeda is the cause of the significant source of sectarian violence and defeating them is essential to solving sectarian violence.
Kagan also added that the “surge” has also captured thousands of militia leaders at the same time that it has driven Al Qaeda out of the surge area of operations, also significantly reducing Sunni/Shia conflict. This fact reaffirms the conclusion that it political reconciliation is possible with, and only after, Al Qaeda and other terror groups can no longer influence the political process through brutal violence.
It is amazing how much better Iraq looks when one focuses on facts, context and history and not just body counts in evaluating the real world events of our times.
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Randy Enwright, a Republican political consultant from Florida with ties to the Iowa presidential battleground, has been tapped as political director of Fred Thompson's forthcoming presidential campaign.
Based in Tallahassee, Enwright worked on George W. Bush's 2000 Florida campaign and has been the Republican National Committee's regional political director for Florida since then.
In the early '90s, he was staff director of the Republican Party in Iowa, a state whose caucuses will kick off 2008 delegate selection.
Enwright was executive director of the Florida party in 1995-1999 and adviser to Gov. Jeb Bush.
In a recent fund-raising appeal to small donors for Senate Democratic campaigns, Bill Clinton pushed a tax increase for upper income earners -- now including himself.
In a June 25 appeal asking contributions of "$50, $100 or even more," the former president declared: "I never had any money until I left the White House. But now that I'm a millionaire, I get more help from the federal government than anybody. I think it's inconsistent with the common good to give me huge tax cuts."
As president in 1993, Clinton pushed huge upper bracket tax increases through Congress. Republicans won control of the House in 1994 for the first time in 40 years.
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