The Pendragon's Hall

I feel sorry for the Iraqis. Here they are, trying to write a constitution amidst car bombs and hostages and gunfights, and the American Left is criticizing every move they make and advocating immediate withdrawal, leaving them high and dry. Howard Dean said last week that the new constitution left Iraqi women worse off than they were under Saddam Hussein. I've always suspected the good doctor believed rape was a woman's right. But apparently the privilege of sitting in the new Parliament or voting in free elections is not. Americans on the ground here know that Dean speaks only for the lunatic fringe but Iraqis working feverishly in Bagdhad do not. But then again, we do suspect things like this from Howard Dean. What is most disgusting is that President Bush is now having to cover his back from Republican presidential hopefuls. Senator Chuck Hagel (Nebraska) lit up TV shows today by declaring that Iraq is (surprise!) a quagmire like Vietnam and we're losing. He advocated setting an exit date and getting out of there pronto. Even John McCain hasn't stooped that far. The fact of the matter is...we're winning Iraq. Is it bloodless? No. Then again, nobody ever said it would be. The Iraqis don't think we're losing--they're still out there trying to recreate their own country. Are these terrorists gaining followers from among Iraqis? No. They're recruiting from Iran and Syria to fill the gaps blown in their ranks by the US military. Iraq has held free elections. They're moving leaps and bounds ahead of most countries in the Middle East and the vast majority of Iraqi people are dedicated to their future as a peaceful, democratic nation. I do not understand why Republicans who want to secure their future as the next President of the United States are trying to scuttle the current President who was just re-elected in a landslide. It doesn't make sense. Used to be party hopefuls would hew as close as possible to the incumbent, hoping to win an endorsement. The way it's going Bush may have to endorse Joe Liberman. At least by 2008, enough insurgents should have been killed to convince the American Left to take up whining about something else--maybe all the caribou born by Bush's pipeline.