Emboldening The Enemy

Since the Democrats began standing up to the President on the war issue-- both before and after their return to power-- the President's defenders have been hiding behind the troops and also stating the Democrats' efforts 'embolden' our enemies.

But, privately, the Republicans have actually been using the Democrats' action to press for substantial change in the region. For instance, on his visit to Pakistan recently, Vice President Cheney warned President Musharraf that his government needed to crack down more on the Taliban and al-Qaeda forces in his country. The new Democratic congress was putting its foot down, Cheney warned, and might cut foreign aid to Pakistan if Musharraf didn't do more. And on visits to Iraq recently, Secretary Rice and other administration officials have made similar warnings to the Maliki government, informing them that Democratic action means our presence there is not unconditional and unlimited. Translation? After years of 'stay the course' stupidity and empty 'benchmark' requests by the administration, we finally have serious people in a position of power demanding action and change.

But in public, of course, the Republicans toe the 'Dems embolden terrorists' line.

This craven and cowardly approach is par for the course for this crew.

Sen. Levin (D-MI) called out Sen. Graham (R-SC) on this hypocrisy on Fox News Sunday. Sen. Graham had said, "The day you set timelines and deadlines, you undo the ability to reconcile, you empower our enemy and give them a road map to defeat us." So Sen. Levin confronted him about a NY Times piece noting that '[McCain] and Mr. Graham had warned Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki that the patience of the American public was running out' and that 'votes in both houses of Congress ... portend, unless the American people see measurable success, that we’re going to be out of here.'

Sen. Graham's timid response? "We — we have been putting pressure on the Maliki government every time I've been there. I've been there for six trips." Not exactly a denial.

Don't expect them to be shamed into quitting this rhetoric anytime soon, though. They can't win real wars, so they they'll try to win the one against Democrats instead. It's all they have left.

[UPDATE: Even Sec. Gates agrees... Democrats' push for withdrawal is helping us in Iraq.]