GOP Leader Losing Faith in Iraq-Namese Government

Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is the top Republican in the US Senate. Although he’s a loyal Republican and supporter of the president, he is also a reasonable man (he opposed a flag desecration amendment to the constitution because he prefers free speech, no matter how odious). He also supported the invasion of Iraq, and he believes in the surge currently underway. So, when he turns on the Iraq-Namese government, alarms should sound along the Tigris and the Potomac.

In brief, Senator McConnell was on CNN’s “Late Edition” yesterday and told the Green Zone government that his party was “overwhelmingly disappointed” with the lack of political progress in Iraq-Nam. He bluntly said, “The Iraqi government is a huge disappointment.” He added, “So far, they’ve not been able [to] do anything they promised on the political side. It’s a growing frustration.” He continued, “Republicans overwhelmingly feel disappointed about the Iraqi government.” For good measure he said, “I don’t know what their problem is but this country [the USA] has made an enormous investment in giving the Iraqis a chance to have a normal government after all of these years of Saddam Hussein and his atrocities.”

The good senator didn’t switch sides, however. He told Wolf Blitzer, the show’s host, “I think Republicans believe overwhelmingly,[sic] is that the decision to get on offense in the war on terror after 9/11 in Afghanistan and Iraq has protected us fully here at home. What we are all discovering, however, it’s very difficult to set up a functioning government in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.” By the same token, he believes, “If we give up prematurely, we go home, declare it over, will they be back here on the -- in our own country? And I think the chances of that are overwhelmingly likely.”

Senator McConnell is wrong about the terrorists following US troops home. If they could strike the continental US, they would regardless of the situation in Iraq-Nam or Afghanistan. His thinking betrays an unfamiliarity with unconventional warfare (most of Washington doesn’t get this) and consists of a certain degree of rear-end covering. Iraq-Nam under the Saddamites was, at best, a peripheral security risk compared to Al Qaeda and its fellow travelers.

The president has said for years that as the Iraq-Namese stand up, America will stand-down. This journal suggested a long time ago that the Iraq-Namese may not want to stand up. Senator McConnell has come to the realization that they seem to remain seated, even lounging comfortably. As the 2008 election approaches, more Republicans are going to come to the same conclusion. What will be interesting, and possibly world changing, is what they propose to do about it.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

Home