Sen. Reid's comments on April 19th regarding Iraq:
"I believe ... that this war is lost, and this surge is not accomplishing anything, as is shown by the extreme violence in Iraq this week," Reid told journalists on April 19.
To me, Reid's comments are a brilliant illustration of the fact that the Dems don't have a credible articulation of how to extract some measure of victory or acceptable outcome from this conflict. It is not a winning political formula to champion defeat. Because thinking people are going to wonder what kind of cahones you have to protect this country with when you champion a defeatist line of thinking.Part of the problem of Iraq for this administration is that they say they will not leave until they have achieved victory, but what they have defined as victory appears patently unachievable to most Americans. What the Dems should be doing is questioning the administrations articulation of what victory is and supplying the public with a more functional and credible definition. You can't argue for "acceptance" of a defeat. We've spent billions in treasure and over 3,000 of our best men and women have given their lives. At the end, that must be worth something, must have accomplished something. The Dems don't seem to get that point. You can't craft a winning argument for why you should be in power on defeat. Its time to tell Reid to shut up. The Dems need a coherent definition of victory that people can see as credible. Until they get one, they will continue to be successfully pigeonholed as the party of defeat and surrender.
