Republicans' 2006 campaign platform: We love war

Maybe the Republicans are on to something. Maybe "we stand for staying the course in the Iraq War forever and ever" is a sure-fire winning strategy for the GOP this November. They sure seem to be signing on for it: G.O.P. Decides to Embrace War as Issue. (I like the headline.)

Just on the surface of things, it looks like a lemming stampede to me, given how unpopular the war has become.

It would make a little more sense if it's mainly to set the stage for a late-summer marketing rollout of a propaganda blitz to justify bombing Iran, aka, regionalizing the Iraq War.

That bold saint, Maverick McCain, was front and center this week defending his support for escalating the war and adopting the destruction of Fallujah as the US counterinsurgency model for all of Iraq. We can't do what The Terrorists say they want us to do, the great Maverick warns:

The letter released last year from Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden’s lieutenant, to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, draws out the implications. The Zawahiri letter is predicated on the assumption that the United States will leave Iraq, and that al Qaeda’s real game begins as soon as we abandon the country. In his missive, Zawahiri lays out a four stage plan - establish a caliphate in Iraq, extend the “jihad wave” to the secular countries neighboring Iraq, clash with Israel - none of which shall commence until the completion of stage one: expel the Americans from Iraq. Zawahiri observes that the collapse of American power in Vietnam, “and how they ran and left their agents,” suggests that “we must be ready starting now.”

Except sometimes the Maverick might be agreeing with what The Terrorists want. Sid Blumenthal reviewing Ron Suskind's new book:

On Oct. 29, 2004, Osama bin Laden released his "October surprise," an 18-minute tape attacking Bush. The CIA analyzed the tape and concluded that "bin Laden's message was clearly designed to assist the President's reelection." That day, at a meeting at the CIA, acting director John McLaughlin remarked, "Bin Laden certainly did a nice favor today for the president." Miscik presented analysis that bin Laden felt challenged by the rise of the thuggish Zarqawi, who called himself commander of al-Qaida in Iraq, and that bin Laden was refocusing attention through his tape on his cosmic and continuing one-on-one battle with Bush. "Certainly," she said, "he would want Bush to keep doing what he's doing for a few more years." (my emphasis)

| +Save/Share | |