Redstate

Posted at 4:12pm on Jun. 1, 2008 "Iraq's Chance"

By Jeff Emanuel

Note: This piece appeared in today's New York Times under the title "Colombia's chance." For the sake of illustrating absurdity, the word "Colombia" has been changed to "Iraq," and "FARC" to "al Qaeda in Iraq."

See if it sounds any better to you like this, than it does in the original editorial calling on Colombian President Uribe to capitulate to FARC rather than defeat them outright.

Iraq’s president, Nouri Al-Maliki, may be sorely tempted to begin a final, killing offensive against fighters of al Qaeda in Iraq, or AQI. The fighters are weakened, and Mr. Al-Maliki is eager to capitalize politically on their defeat.

Nevertheless, he should resist that temptation and seek a political settlement to try to bring the fighters in from the cold. Iraq has seen more than enough bloodshed. And Mr. Al-Maliki has a strong enough hand to insist on AQI's complete disarmament and an end to the attacks on civilians that has long been the group's main mission.

Al Qaeda has been under assault from Iraqi Security Forces, first led, then increasingly supported, by U.S. forces Army for some four years, and looks as if it is unraveling. It has lost several of its top commanders in recent years, including Abu-Musab al Zarqawi in 2006.

Read on.

Posted in Capitulation | Media | new york times | Surrender to win | War — Comments (5)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:38pm on Feb. 15, 2008 Democrats Negligent on FISA

By Congressman Tom Price

I just got off the House floor after engaging Majority Leader Steny Hoyer regarding the latest extremely negligent actions of the Democrat leadership. The clock displayed on this page is real. At midnight tonight, the Protect America Act will expire, and a serious lapse in America’s intelligence gathering capabilities will be realized. Yet Democrats in Congress just recessed the House – for 10 days – without acting to permanently authorize an essential national security law.

This is the same authority that has provided our intelligence community with invaluable tools used to identify and disrupt numerous terrorist plots. Democrats have known that this law was going to expire for more than six months, yet continue to drop the ball on our national security. First, they secured a two-week fix, and this week sought another 21-day extension. The ability of our intelligence community to protect us from threats should not be treated with temporary stop-gap extensions. Republicans in the House are resolute in our demand for permanent solutions instead of reckless week-by-week extensions.

Rather than working together and allowing a vote on the new Protect America Act, which the majority of the House is on record supporting, the Democrat leadership in the House is disregarding their solemn oath to defend the American people and abdicating their constitutional responsibilities.

This bill is ready and waiting for bipartisan passage to send to the President, but the new majority decided a better use of their time was to leave town early with a brazen disregard for the seriousness of the terrorist threat. The Speaker must call the House back into session to ensure our intelligence agencies have the tools needed to keep us safe.

Posted in Capitulation | Congress | Democrats | FISA — Comments (77) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 4:55pm on Jan. 23, 2008 The Senate GOP Leadership Embraces the Minority

By Erick

The Senate GOP has been having its retreat. This is the first retreat since Lamar Alexander (R-TN) was named Chairman of the Conference. In this position, Alexander is charged with developing the GOP agenda and controlling the message.

Today, the Republican Senators are at a retreat and they are getting their first taste of Lamar Alexander's leadership. His message: embrace being in the minority.

According to Senate staff familiar with the conversations, Senators have been hearing from multiple pollsters including Dave Winston. Winston has consistently been presenting polling to the GOP caucus over the last year that has shown that the war, spending, and corruption were three major issues leading to GOP defeat. You can get a sense of Winston's thinking here.

“What you’re seeing is a greater awareness of earmarks,” said David Winston, a GOP pollster who has done work for congressional Republicans on the issue. “As a result, people have been concerned about waste in government and now view earmarks in conflict with accountability.”

As if orchestrated, other "experts" who were invited by Republican leadership gave reports downplaying the GOP's struggle with spending and pork and focusing mainly on the war in Iraq as the problem. Senators were told that what the American people want most is cooperation in Congress and to see lawmakers get things done: Read -- Pass Democrat legislation. In fact, by the time it was over, I'm told you would have thought the Appropriators themselves had arranged the presentation to completely undermine Winston's assertion that waste and earmarks had anything at all to do with the GOP loss in 2006.

Lamar Alexander's central theme of the day now is that the GOP must work with the Democrats on "bipartisan legislation" to show the American people the Senate can get things done. Whoa unto the Republican Senator who obstructs the will of the majority.

Read on . . .

Posted in Capitulation | Defeat | Democrat-Lite | Republicans | Surrender — Comments (27)/ Email this page » / Read More »