The Dems, Lieberman says, are more concerned with handing George Bush a defeat than defeating the global threat of Khomeinism and Qaidism.
Iraq has become the singular litmus test for Democratic candidates. No Democratic presidential primary candidate today speaks of America’s moral or strategic responsibility to stand with the Iraqi people against the totalitarian forces of radical Islam, or of the consequences of handing a victory in Iraq to al Qaeda and Iran. And if they did, their campaign would be as unsuccessful as mine was in 2006. Even as evidence has mounted that General Petraeus’ new counterinsurgency strategy is succeeding, Democrats have remained emotionally invested in a narrative of defeat and retreat in Iraq, reluctant to acknowledge the progress we are now achieving, or even that that progress has enabled us to begin drawing down our troops there.
Part of the explanation for this, I think, comes back to ideology. For all of our efforts in the 1990s to rehabilitate a strong Democratic foreign policy tradition, anti-war sentiment remains the dominant galvanizing force among a significant segment of the Democratic base.
But another reason for the Democratic flip-flop on foreign policy over the past few years is less substantive. For many Democrats, the guiding conviction in foreign policy isn’t pacifism or isolationism—it is distrust and disdain of Republicans in general, and President Bush in particular.
And (via Ace) if you need something more than the words of Joe Lieberman to convince you that the foundation of the left's foreign policy is built upon Bush Derangement Syndrome, then perhaps the defiant and determined words below, from an Iraqi, will convince you.
I know those who are wedded to the idea of a failed Iraq are calling me a deluded idiot and worse. But things are improving slowly. My relatives in Baghdad say there's no comparison; things are much better than they were six months ago. They can visit friends in different areas and walk about the neighbourhood in the evening.
Frankly, I don't understand why so many mock us for wanting a future for Iraq. Is your hatred for George Bush so great that you prefer to see millions of civilians suffer just to prove him wrong?
It really comes down to this: you are determined to see Iraq become a permanent hellhole because you hate Bush. And we are determined to see Iraq become a success, because we want to live.
More Defeatocratic (and one Defeatotarian) Party-before-Country insanity:
Pelosi Chooses Politics over Troop Funding Again - RSC Blog
Elvis Presley Strikes New Album Deal with Virgin Records! - Wake Up America
Sen. Dodd: Khalid Sheik Mohammed has taken the moral high ground from the US - Hot Air
Update: Glenn Greenwald posts what looks to be the standard in terms of Dem pushback on Iraq success and in the process takes denial to new heights. The Dems new mantra: We're not winning and even if we do victory is defeat.
