On Iraq there is a disconnect between Democratic leaders in Washington and many Democratic activists in the field. What is interesting, however, is this disconnect is not just between leaders such as Hillary Clinton and the activists. There is even a disconnect between the activists and those Democrats who have called for an early withdrawal from Iraq, people like John Kerry and John Edwards.
Kerry, for example, has called for getting all combat troops out of Iraq by the end of this year. But even that is not what the activists want. They do not want to get out by the end of 2006. They want to get out now, right now. This month. This week.
National Democratic leaders realize this is impossible. They understand an immediate withdrawal would mean a level of violence and massacres throughout Iraq that would make what is happening now look like a Sunday School picnic. They also realize the effect such a pullout would have on the United States’ position and credibility in the world. Therefore, they want it to at least appear they are giving the Iraqis enough time to work things out before we leave. That way, when the inevitable happens, they can at least say it is not their fault.
But the activists do not care. In response to warnings about what would happen if we withdrew immediately, their response is, "Not our problem." They did not want to go in. Bush is not their president (he stole two elections, after all). It is Bush’s problem or the Republicans’ problem or the Sunnis’ or Shias’ problem, but it is not their problem. If you tell them how many people will die in the chaos that would follow an immediate withdrawal, they just shrug their shoulders. They may try to claim more people will die if we stay than if we go, but that is just something they have to say. The fact is they don’t care.
It is the "me generation" coming back to politics. It does not matter what our government promised. It does not matter what commitments we made. They want out, and the heck with everybody else. They were ultimately able to do it to the South Vietnamese in 1975. If they have their way, the United States will do it to the Iraqis today.
[Title Revised: August 8, 2006]
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