Fresh from their humiliating election defeat, Democrat party
leaders have concocted what they believe to be an ingenious new
strategy: criticize the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
You can’t help but feel sorry for Democrats these days.
Out of sync with the American people and completely removed from
reality, the Democrats are shooting themselves in the foot with
this new anti-war rhetoric.
In an Associated Press article, Senator Tom Daschle, D-S.D.,
revealed concern on “whether or not we are winning the war on
terror.” No matter that in the recent Gallup Polls, only 34
percent of Americans believe the Democrats are tough enough on
terrorism. Forget Bush’s 59 percent approval rating for
handling foreign affairs.
What a brilliant move, Mr. Daschle. The American people just
gave your party a nice kick in the ass for not being tough enough
on terrorism, and you decide to publicly voice doubts about the war
itself.
In the same AP article, Daschle said, “We can’t find
bin Laden, we haven’t made real progress in finding key
elements of al-Qaeda. So by what measure can we claim to be
successful so far?”
Well, I have a few. First of all, there has not been a single
terrorist attack on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001. The United
States launched a successful military campaign in Afghanistan and
captured and interrogated thousands of terrorists. In addition, the
United States has enlisted 90 nations in a global coalition against
terrorism. One hundred and thirteen million dollars in terrorist
assets have been seized worldwide.
So, we haven’t yet found Osama bin Laden. Is it fair to
judge the war on whether bin Laden is captured? It’s
ridiculous.
What matters more than catching bin Laden is that al-Qaeda is
now about as strong as silly putty. Recent small-scale strikes show
just how weakened al-Qaeda and bin Laden really are. In a Los
Angeles Times article, Bruce Hoffman, Washington director of Rand
Corp., a think tank based in Santa Monica, said, “We’ve
forced them onto softer, more accessible targets.”
Does this sound like a losing war to you? Of course not. But
don’t blame the Democrats completely for not knowing the
difference. Most of them can’t even operate a sling shot. As
militarily challenged as the Democrats are, they should at least
recognize that unjustly criticizing a war does not help its chances
for success.
Wrongly questioning the progress in the war on terrorism also
has a demoralizing effect on the men and women who do an excellent
job of defending this country. “If we want to win this war it
will take the support of the nation to send its young men to
battle,” says Jeff Pinney, midshipman second class, U.S.
Naval Academy.
If you risked your life to protect your fellow Americans, only
to hear Democrats like Tom Daschle criticizing your job, you
wouldn’t exactly feel appreciated.
After all the actions we’ve taken to fight terrorism since
Sept. 11, 2001, the Democrats still don’t think we’re
winning the war. What, then, will it take to ensure that we win? Is
it going to take some nukes to do the job? No, but what else could
Daschle possibly be suggesting?
Maybe the Democrats want to increase the defense budget from
$393 billion to half a trillion or more. Maybe they want to create
a domestic spy agency. Or maybe they want to drill for oil in
Alaska so the United States would be less dependent on the Middle
East.
If the Democrats aren’t willing to take any concrete
measures to win the war on terror, they should at least recognize
the progress made so far and stand united behind the common cause
of fighting terrorism.