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February 22, 2007

Notes from Ferdy - Do Consequences Matter?

by Ferdinand T Cat

I was over at A Few Shiny Pebbles, and I read this article about the War on Terror. In it, Bruce's friend Minta quotes Teddy Roosevelt about the need for courage and sacrifice in the face of evil. The implication is pretty clear: for the sake of some principles, it's worth going to war.

I suspect that fans of the song War, What Is It Good For would not agree. The problem is, even if you claim we shouldn't have gone into Iraq, the fact is that we are there now, and we have some excellent evidence of what happens when we drop everything and run away-- the Taliban.

But this is not just about standing firm, it's about a wrong-headed attempt to erase a foreign policy move. The real world is not an electronic medium with a backspace key. Even if another murderous thug takes over Iraq, we will be worse off than we were when we started, because we will have established that we're spineless.

Hillary Clinton has promised she'll end the Iraq war if she's elected. Richard Nixon made a similar promise about Viet Nam, but the result was a humanitarian disaster.

So, mistake or not, the question is: have the Democrats considered the consequences of a withdrawal? That piece of the puzzle is persistently missing, and it would be really nice if one of the journalists who are supposed to keep politicians honest asked that question once or twice.

Respectfully submitted,

Ferdinand T. Cat

Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson's Website, Diary of the Mad Pigeon, The Virtuous Republic, basil's blog, Pirate's Cove, Stuck On Stupid, The Pink Flamingo, High Desert Wanderer, Pursuing Holiness, Conservative Thoughts, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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I thought Murtha said that Al Queda would go away if we left Iraq.


Posted by: maggie katzen at February 23, 2007 1:41 AM

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