Schumer: In Spite of *Something*
Sen. Chuck Schumer’s surprising statement that the troop surge had nothing to do with gains on the ground in the Anbar province in Iraq … his words were that the violence has gone down despite the surge, not because of it … is stunning on its face. Did he mean that?
There will be plenty to read about on this one, including the comments at Captain’s Quarters, Leibowitz’s Canticle and Hugh Hewitt’s wonderful appeal for folks to call Sen. Schumer’s office with their opinion of his slander (for your convenience, you can call the Hill switchboard at 202-225-3121 and ask for his office). A more pointed response from Blackfive, where Uncle Jimbo gives a vet’s perspective.
Its hard to defend Schumer’s stupid statement, although Politics and Culture does try: Schumer must have meant the American Army, not the American soldier. I’m not sure even that possibility softens the words, and giving the benefit of the doubt to Senator Schumer, he is still, in the words of Uncle Jimbo, in the running for the “Senate’s biggest ass.”
More to come …
Update 1: More blogging on this issue – Red State chimes in calling it the new “Dem Spin”, while Don Surber at Daily Mail notes Schumer’s position as the head of the Democratic Senate Campaign for 2008 – and is therefore the chief fundraiser for the Dems in the Senate – and wraps it up with a nice link to that Rep. Clyburn interview where that third ranking Democrat in the House states that good news from Iraq is bad news for Democrats. Indeed.
Update 2: Don Surber
now has a link to Greyhawk at Mudville Gazette, a mil-blogger, who says “Its simple to me, They’re making noise and we’re making history”. At that site, you find 31 links to some of the press releases chronicling success in Iraq. Take a look; its pretty impressive.
Since the victory in Anbar Province has been a Marine operation from start to now, whether Senator Schumer meant “American Army” or soldier, he’s screwed either way.
More poor staffing in his office, though the reality that they can’t tell a Marine from a Soldier is not surprising. They just don’t care.
I suspect its just part of the spin; American public opinion is the prize here, and if the American people think there is a good chance of victory, they will opt for that every time. Because the Dems have already admitted that “success in Iraq is very bad for us”, they have to try and minimize any success.
Saying that any progress is because we abandoned Anbar and the people got their proverbial “stuff” together, which seems to be the Dem’s theory, allows them to keep the same position of “withdraw now” no matter what the facts on the ground say.
I think its a losing strategy, but it looks like that’s where they are headed.