Chris’ first guest was Fran Townshend; President Bush’s homeland security advisor. Appropriately the first topic was al Qaeda’s recent reversal of fortune. Chris asked about the recent intelligence reports that concluded that al Qaeda was gaining strength. Townshend advanced two important arguments. First, Townshend properly identified the source of the problems as the safe have al Qaeda has found in western Pakistan.
Townshend made it clear that US policy is somewhat constrained in dealing with al Qaeda in Pakistan because the Pakistani government wants to handle that problem. Since Pakistan is an American ally, and a most important one, we have to honor their requests even when they aren’t doing everything we want-which goes directly to the entire Democrat caterwauling about al Qaeda regrouping in Iraq. There isn’t much the US can do across the border into Pakistan without actually invading Pakistan and no one thinks that is a good idea.
However, there are some things we can do and Townshend coyly indicated that we are, in fact, doing something. Chris suggested special ops and drones and, of course, Townshend refused to bite on any specifics, and merely said that we are doing something.
Senators Evan Bayh and Kit Bond (D-Ind./R-Missouri) were the Congressional voices. Both initially described the problems in Pakistan. Bayh echoed the difficulty of the problem with the Pakistani border, to wit: it is an ally and we have to respect their sovereignty. Bond then refused to discuss the specifics of ongoing American action.
Wallace then posed the question of Iraq’s relationship to the larger War on Terror. Bond echoed the terrorist statements about establishing the future near global caliphate in Iraq. Bayh took the ubiquitous position that America needs to fight a smarter war in Iraq. Of course, no details about what a smarter war looks like were offered. It is sad to see the effect of politics on Bayh; I think he’d go flat out to win in Iraq if he were in charge, unlike the typical anti-American gibberish coming from that side of the aisle. Bayh argued that removing the crutch of American soldiers would force the Iraqis to accelerate political progress.
Wallace brought up the he discussion of “what happens next “in Iraq. Bond was pushed hard to concede that Republicans will take a position that we need a “new strategy” in Iraq. Bayh obviously answered that the whole Congress will demand a new strategy. Bond said we are already implementing the Bayh plan, by hitting and holding. Bond criticized reliance on the “whack a mole” tactic that Ambassador Bremer and General Casey employed. History has shown Bremer and Casey to have been wrong and Bond and Bayh were both right, as Bond noted on air.
The panel started with a discussion of the Breck Girl (John Edwards) and his willingness to hide behind his wife’s skirts. The consensus was Elizabeth Edwards was trying to help a weak campaign by picking fights with stronger opponents. No one thought Hillary had a problem with her “feminist” credentials. Bill Kristol proposed a spouse debate because Ann Edwards and Bill Clinton were more interesting than their candidate spouses.
The Clinton DoD letters were more controversial. Mara opined that the DoD response-correctly reminding Hillary that her pursuit of domestic political noise was serving al Qaeda’s propaganda interests would help Madame Defarge in the Democrat primary. Sadly, I agree, most Democrat primary voters are now openly cheering terror victory in Iraq.
The panel reached consensus on the brilliance of Fred Thompson in delaying his formal announcement. Fred has steadily climbed the polls without a formal announcement and is now bobbing around no. 1 or 2 in most polls. Bill Kristol again stated the best way to view it, why rock the boat? Nothing says a candidate has to describe himself as a candidate to run for President.
Juan Williams gave the typical liberal lines, we’ve made mistakes, 3600 people have died and now enough is enough. Bill K slapped him like a four year old at K-mart, one comment said it all. “Enough is enough is not a serious policy in time of war” pretty much says all that needs to be said about the anti-war crowd. Interestingly, that very same anti-war crowd demand invasion of Darfur or Pakistan but somehow don’t want to fight al Qaeda where al Qaeda says it will win the central battle in its war against us-Iraq.
Townshend, Bayh and Bond certainly provided a more mature and rational discussion of policy than is typical for Sunday talk. Very good program for Fox today.
Townshend made it clear that US policy is somewhat constrained in dealing with al Qaeda in Pakistan because the Pakistani government wants to handle that problem. Since Pakistan is an American ally, and a most important one, we have to honor their requests even when they aren’t doing everything we want-which goes directly to the entire Democrat caterwauling about al Qaeda regrouping in Iraq. There isn’t much the US can do across the border into Pakistan without actually invading Pakistan and no one thinks that is a good idea.
However, there are some things we can do and Townshend coyly indicated that we are, in fact, doing something. Chris suggested special ops and drones and, of course, Townshend refused to bite on any specifics, and merely said that we are doing something.
Senators Evan Bayh and Kit Bond (D-Ind./R-Missouri) were the Congressional voices. Both initially described the problems in Pakistan. Bayh echoed the difficulty of the problem with the Pakistani border, to wit: it is an ally and we have to respect their sovereignty. Bond then refused to discuss the specifics of ongoing American action.
Wallace then posed the question of Iraq’s relationship to the larger War on Terror. Bond echoed the terrorist statements about establishing the future near global caliphate in Iraq. Bayh took the ubiquitous position that America needs to fight a smarter war in Iraq. Of course, no details about what a smarter war looks like were offered. It is sad to see the effect of politics on Bayh; I think he’d go flat out to win in Iraq if he were in charge, unlike the typical anti-American gibberish coming from that side of the aisle. Bayh argued that removing the crutch of American soldiers would force the Iraqis to accelerate political progress.
Wallace brought up the he discussion of “what happens next “in Iraq. Bond was pushed hard to concede that Republicans will take a position that we need a “new strategy” in Iraq. Bayh obviously answered that the whole Congress will demand a new strategy. Bond said we are already implementing the Bayh plan, by hitting and holding. Bond criticized reliance on the “whack a mole” tactic that Ambassador Bremer and General Casey employed. History has shown Bremer and Casey to have been wrong and Bond and Bayh were both right, as Bond noted on air.
The panel started with a discussion of the Breck Girl (John Edwards) and his willingness to hide behind his wife’s skirts. The consensus was Elizabeth Edwards was trying to help a weak campaign by picking fights with stronger opponents. No one thought Hillary had a problem with her “feminist” credentials. Bill Kristol proposed a spouse debate because Ann Edwards and Bill Clinton were more interesting than their candidate spouses.
The Clinton DoD letters were more controversial. Mara opined that the DoD response-correctly reminding Hillary that her pursuit of domestic political noise was serving al Qaeda’s propaganda interests would help Madame Defarge in the Democrat primary. Sadly, I agree, most Democrat primary voters are now openly cheering terror victory in Iraq.
The panel reached consensus on the brilliance of Fred Thompson in delaying his formal announcement. Fred has steadily climbed the polls without a formal announcement and is now bobbing around no. 1 or 2 in most polls. Bill Kristol again stated the best way to view it, why rock the boat? Nothing says a candidate has to describe himself as a candidate to run for President.
Juan Williams gave the typical liberal lines, we’ve made mistakes, 3600 people have died and now enough is enough. Bill K slapped him like a four year old at K-mart, one comment said it all. “Enough is enough is not a serious policy in time of war” pretty much says all that needs to be said about the anti-war crowd. Interestingly, that very same anti-war crowd demand invasion of Darfur or Pakistan but somehow don’t want to fight al Qaeda where al Qaeda says it will win the central battle in its war against us-Iraq.
Townshend, Bayh and Bond certainly provided a more mature and rational discussion of policy than is typical for Sunday talk. Very good program for Fox today.
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