America and Iraq

The Florida GOP debate held January 22, 2008 was mildly informative.

Senator McCain wobbled on his record, Mayor Giuliani all but eliminated himself from contention, Governor Huckabee reinforced his humanity, and Governor Romney had his best performance to date.

Much to the chagrin of the CNN post-debate pundits, Chris Matthews and Howard Fineman, it was obvious the candidates had made a pact to cage the personal attacks and concentrate on the issues.

The post analysis was more revealing than the debate.

These two leftwing hatchet men were thrilled with the unanimous consensus of the candidates to stay the course in Iraq. With six out of ten Americans opposed to the War, they heralded the candidates’ position as the reason the Republicans would loose in the general election.

Matthews was so gleeful, he questioned and concluded that the presidential hopefuls had left themselves no wiggle room to backtrack. He is absolutely confident that the voters will reject any candidate that supports the merits of a stable Iraq.

Typical of the virulent leftwing crowd, they interpret the poll results as a backlash against all things President George W. Bush. Their hatred is so consuming, they can’t discern the difference between retiring from the battlefield as winners or losers.

Granted, Americans aren’t sure if Iraq was the place this country should have drawn a line in the sand.

But the majority of Americans don’t want the conflict to end with an unconditional surrender to the terrorists. They want terrorism crushed. They may hate the War, but they hate the Islamic Jihadists even more.

Say what you want about most Americans—they don’t prize defeat. Americans aren’t built that way.

It’s a giant leap to believe the poll indicates that Americans are ready to retreat in defeat. Like the success of General Petraeus’ surge, this ignores America’s resiliency and its steadfast refusal to be intimidated or quit.

Senator Clinton’s about face on staying the course in Iraq and Senator Obama’s head-in-the-sand approach to terrorism reek of intimidation. They prefer appeasement; they prefer quitting to winning.

The leftwing pundits, such as Matthews and Fineman, are so inured to the philosophy of rewarding failure, they can’t imagine Americans seeing the difference between winning and losing.