William Hawkins
October 18, 2007
Hillary Clinton’s claim in a new Foreign Affairs magazine essay that, while she would pull some troops out within 60 days of becoming president, she would keep other “specialized units” in Iraq to fight terrorism will not set well with the far left. She is already taking heat for voting “like a hawk” and declaring Iran’s Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization.
CommonDreams.org charges the Democratic presidential candidate has shifted to general election mode, “trying to shore up her national security credentials against Republican candidates.” The New York senator’s claim earlier in the year that “we must not permit Iran to build or acquire nuclear weapons” runs afoul of the left’s campaign (voraciously pushed by ANSWER and Code Pink) to protect Tehran from American “imperialism.”
The left-wing bloggers were also livid over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s answer to a question from Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday Oct. 7. “Do you pray for our soldiers to win in Iraq?” asked the newsman. “Of, course I do.” replied the Democratic leader. ” To win?” asked Mr. Wallace, with a hint of incredulity in his voice. “Of, course. What a question.” reiterated Mrs. Pelosi.
One can see where the confusion arose, given that the Democrats have been pushing to limit the war effort and speed withdrawal of U.S. troops. The bloggers wanted her to dismiss the “hawkish” question and say she only prays for an “end to the war.”
A Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll released Oct. 4 made headlines when it showed that 19 percent of Democrats said the world would be better off if the United States loses the war in Iraq. For those accustomed to patriotism being the norm, this result seemed shocking. But the good news was that 62 percent of Democrats (along with 76 percent of Independents) rejected this vile notion.
Undoubtedly, the Democratic leadership already knew the far-left bloggers were a minority and that embracing defeat would be political suicide among the general American public. The Democrats crafted their 2006 campaign very carefully, portraying the Bush administration as incompetent in its Iraq strategy (not enough troops, armor or allies), holding out the possibility they could better bring the war to a successful outcome. No Democratic ads said the U.S. should lose the war in Iraq.
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