Sunday, October 22, 2006

An editorial

The good folks at Commonweal have written an editorial on the upcoming election that we think is worth sharing.
As they did in 2004, President George W. Bush and the Republican Party continue to think that failure in Iraq can be disguised by fearmongering at home. Like Vice President Dick Cheney, Bush baldly implies that a vote for Democrats is a vote for terrorists. Yet polls suggest the electorate no longer believes what this administration says about Iraq, and rejects the president’s Orwellian assertion that this unnecessary war is the frontline in defeating terrorists. There is no evidence that our bungling presence in Iraq prevents terrorists from attacking the United States. There is plenty of evidence, however, that Iraq provides jihadists with new motivation and a new training ground. At the same time, the four-year-old war is debilitating the U.S. military’s capabilities and discrediting American aims. Some of the most astute observers of the radical Islamic threat argue that tying the United States down in a futile war in the Middle East was precisely what Osama bin Laden hoped to achieve with the 9/11 attacks. Bush may be playing into the hands of our worst enemy. The administration policy of not talking directly with North Korea seems to be having similar results there.
. . .
There will be a lot of cleaning up to do after this administration leaves office. That cleaning up could begin November 7, if Democrats and Republicans willing to place the Constitution above political gain are elected to Congress.

You can read the entire editorial here.