Dean Touts Democrats' Plan

DNC Chairman Howard Dean touted the Democrats' agenda in their weekly radio address. Here's some of his key points:

Democrats are determined to set a different course for our Nation, to tell the truth to the American people, to save the lives of our American soldiers and keep America safe.

If Democrats are so determined to tell the truth, then why isn't anyone chastising John Murtha for the whoppers he's told recently? Why isn't Nancy Pelosi telling him to stop using the line that an IED killed Iraqi civilians? No one said the IED killed innocent Iraqi civilians. As the Marines reported, the IED killed Marine Sgt. Miguel Terrazas. Why doesn't Ms. Pelosi tell Mr. Murtha that there really was a gunfight that night in Haditha?

Mr. Murtha has put American soldiers at greater risk because he's told those whoppers again & again. Soldiers on the ground in Iraq tell their stateside relatives that they're at greater risk. Mr. Dean would be well advised to keep his mouth shut if his mission is to convince people of the latest Democratic nonsense.

A majority of Democrats have called upon the President to change course in Iraq.

TRANSLATION: A majority of Democrats have called on the President to change course before we win in Iraq so that Democrats don't look like total idiots.

Democrats have also offered a plan that asks the president to responsibly redeploy our troops.

Mr. Dean, it's impossible to "responsibly redeploy our troops" because the end result of Democratic-style redeployment is what most people know as cut-and-run. It's a plan for defeat, not victory. Democrats got their way with Vietnam, the only war we ever lost. Republicans refuse to let you do to the patriotic Iraqi people what the counterculture crowd did to the courageous Vietnamese people. PERIOD!!!

The phased re-deployment strategy proposed by Democrats this week calls on the President to do the following:

-- First, work with the Government of Iraq to begin a phased redeployment of United States troops from Iraq by the end of this year;

Doesn't this fool pay attention? He should read Mowaffak al-Rubaie's Washington Post op-ed to familiarize himself with the plan that President Bush has agreed to with the sovereign Iraqi government. Here's the most important statement Mr. Rubaie makes, in the first paragraph no less:

There is, however, an unofficial "road map" to foreign troop reductions that will eventually lead to total withdrawal of U.S. troops. This road map is based not just on a series of dates but, more important, on the achievement of set objectives for restoring security in Iraq.

It'd be nice if Mr. Dean paid attention to that roadmap instead of blustering on about the Democrats' plan.

-- Second, submit a plan to Congress by the end of 2006 with estimated dates for the continued phased redeployment of United States forces from Iraq;

Mr. Dean, see above statement by Mr. Rubaie.

-- Third, we have also told the President that we demand accountability for the resources being spent in Iraq. The cost of the Iraq war will be at least one trillion dollars, enough to finance a health care program for every single American, including our veterans coming home from the war.

Who are you to demand accountability for the resources being spent there? You don't have a vote in appropriating money to the war effort. Democratic senators and representatives do. It's their responsibility to make sure the money's being spent on the highest priorities in Iraq before they appropriate the money. If they aren't doing that before the vote is taken, then they should be ashamed of themselves.

-- Fourth, expedite the transition of United States forces in Iraq to a limited presence and mission of training, providing logistical support, protecting United States infrastructure and personnel, and participating in targeted counterterrorism activities.

Seriously, have you paid even a minute amount of attention to Iraq? I'd seriously doubt it based on this statement because we've been in a mostly logistical and support role for at least six months now. If you're finally figuring this out now, snap with it. You're ages behind, which isn't surprising.

-- Finally, our plan recognizes that during and after the phased redeployment of United States forces from Iraq, the United States will need to sustain a non-military effort to actively support reconstruction, governance, and a durable political solution in Iraq.

Again, where have you been? Mr. Dean, is it that you only pay attention to the things revolving around your head in your make-believe universe? Get a clue.

Most of the 'Democratic plan' has been in place for half a year or better, with the lone exception being setting timelines. And that ain't gonna happen until there's icicles hanging from the ceiling in Hades.

We see an America where we are all on the same team again, working together to deal with problems American Families face, Defense, Security, Health Care, Jobs.

The only division in America is the Democratic-caused division. The Bush administration is dealing with defending this nation and providing for true national security. The Bush economic plan dug us out of a recession and 9/11. Since then, it's creating jobs at a rate comparable to the Clinton record.

Simply put, it's time for Mr. Dean's Democrats to take the blinders off and to stop Bush-hating.

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Posted Saturday, June 24, 2006 10:27 PM

May 2006 Posts

Comment 1 by peteyboy at 25-Jun-06 10:05 AM

The thing you have to realize is the Dems are going by what the Mainstream Media feeds them. THAT is the truth about what is going on in Iraq. And they know the Democratic voters do the same. None of what you stated is printed in the press. And if it is, it's taunted as being "Right wing lies" or spin of some sort. Or even, "So what. It doesn't justify and invasion and the loss of American soldier's lives." We have to consider the truth-impared sense of the media that caters to the anti-Bush crowd. As Dean would say, YEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!

Comment 2 by Jack at 25-Jun-06 09:36 PM

Gary, and peteyboy... Just keep spouting and believing the Republican Spin. Unfortunately,for you, over 60% of the American people dont.

As for Bush hating, what I hate is how incompetently he has lead US miltary forces the last 3 years. Afghanistan is devolving, and Iraq is a basket case. Republican Congressmen are advocating amnesty for Iraqi insurgents, which the Iraqi Govt STILL seems to be planning. (Nothing new, the insurgents who killed Casey Sheehan were with Muktada al Sadar Shiite Militia.. You know Sadar, A MAJOR SHIITE LEADER that is still roaming free. I guess what his militia did back then is just not politically correct to prosecute now, is it??)

And, as this post from AmericaBlog points out, the Casey plan for Iraq is very much like Murtha's, your great nemisis. Read it and weep for the double dealing of Bush and Rove. Attack Demos for "cut and Run" when they just have a more slow mo version, mainly for the benefit of the fall election:

Top US general in Iraq says it's time to cut and run: Bush okay with detailed timetable for partial US withdrawal from Iraq

by John in DC - 6/24/2006 11:26:00 PM

http://americablog.blogspot.com/

UPDATE: Okay, I read the story again. Guess what? They're talking about only withdrawing 28,000 trooops by the end of next year - that would leave 100,000 US troops in Iraq at least into 2008. So, they're trying to have their cake and eat it too. Not really withdraw much of anyone, but at the same time appease the American public with a "withdrawal" announcement just in time for the election.

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They've got to be kidding. The same week the Republicans and the White House viciously and personally attack Democrats for wanting to establish a timetable to start withdrawing US troops from Iraq, the top US general in Iraq has now created a detailed timetable for partially withdrawing US troops from Iraq, and George Bush himself has seemingly signed off on it.



Seriously, they have to be kidding. For an entire two weeks they attack Democrats as wanting to "cut and run," as traitors who are helping Osama, and now we find out that Bush has already okayed his own plan to "cut and run" from Iraq with FAR MORE details than the Democrats ever had.



The United States has 14 combat brigades in Iraq, plus many other support troops. Under the plan, the United States would shrink this force to 12 combat brigades in September. This would be done by not replacing 2 brigades that are scheduled to be withdrawn.



A combat brigade would be kept on alert in Kuwait or elsewhere in case American commanders needed to augment their forces to deal with a crisis. Another brigade would be kept on a lesser state of alert elsewhere in the world, but still prepared to deploy quickly. As a result of these arrangements, the plan to bring the combat force down to 12 active brigades in Iraq is being called 12-1-1.



Further reductions might be made by the end of the year. By December, the number of American combat brigades in Iraq would be 10 to 12. As with the September reduction, a brigade would be kept on alert and another brigade would be ready to deploy.



According to the projections in General Casey's briefing, the number of combat brigades would shrink to seven to eight by June 2007 and finally to five to six by December 2007.



At the same time, the number of bases in Iraq would decline as American forces consolidated. By the end of the year the number of bases would shrink to 57 from the current 69. By June 2007, there would be 30 bases, and by December 2007 there would be only 11.



Where to even begin responding to this?



1. Bush just adopted the Democrats' plan. A plan he and Karl Rove and Ken Mehlman and the Republican Congress savaged all week.



2. To use Bush's own language, he just provided "the enemy" with DETAILED dates for the withdrawal and the exact number of troops we would withdraw and where they remaining troops would be stationed.



3. What changed in Iraq for the better in the past two days that let the White House come up with a timetable for a partial withdrawal? Was it the kidnapping of 85 to 100 people north of Baghdad? Was it the US embassy memo saying the situation is deteriorating? There are no facts whatsoever to suggest that the situation in Iraq has improved at all, so what possibly can Bush be basing this on other than political pandering for the upcoming US elections?



4. Isn't it nice to know that the US military is now actively trying to influence US elections?



5. Check out the small mention the NYT gives the hypocrisy of the GOP:



Now, after criticizing Democratic lawmakers for trying to legislate a timeline for withdrawing troops, skeptics say, the Bush administration seems to have its own private schedule, albeit one that can be adjusted as events unfold.



Skeptics? Would the Times report that "skeptics say humans breathe oxygen?" Do facts not exist any longer in American media circles? The Republicans spent all week savaging the Dems for talking about beginning a withdrawal. Does the Murtha plan sound vaguely familiar to anyone over at the Times? And now that Bush has a plan for a partial withdrawal, suddenly only "skeptics" are the ones seeing some rather large hypocrisy here. The GOP about-face should be THE story, not a few lines in the story. Not to mention, where is the quote in the story about the administration being asked about the hypocrisy? There's nothing - it would seem the Times didn't bother asking.



Bush and the Republican Congress just spent two weeks lying to the American people about Iraq, yet again.