Make no mistake: it's entirely political
Kari Chisholm
Gordon Smith is doing his damnedest to convince Oregonians that his December turnabout on Iraq comes from an anguished and heartfelt re-evaluation of the war.
This weekend, he made his case to conservative columnist George Will:
His path to this uncomfortable position began when he boarded a red-eye flight to Washington from Portland last July, carrying what he thought might be interesting reading -- the book " Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq" by The Post's Tom Ricks. "By the time I landed at Dulles," he remembers, "I was sick to my stomach." He was convinced that the American mission in Iraq was (in the words of a U.S. official in Iraq, quoted by Ricks) like pasting feathers together and hoping for a duck.
Note for the record that Smith says he was sick to his stomach in July 2006... and yet he didn't make his speech until December 2006. During his long silence, over 350 American troops were killed in Iraq. For five months, Gordon Smith did nothing.
What changed? The 2006 elections.
Make no mistake: Gordon Smith's turnabout is entirely related to the 2008 elections. Check out what George Will said this morning on ABC's This Week:
George Stephanopoulus: Senator Smith told you that he believes he has, what?, about a dozen Republicans who will then join him in calling for a timetable for withdrawal?George Will:
Well, that's what he said. That they will be where he is. And that is where he is.The Republicans are scheduled, frankly, the way they talk, to panic in September. As in a way, they ought to. They're looking at another election on Iraq, and they'll be picking up the Republican Party in pieces with tweezers.
Senator Smith has aided and abetted George Bush repeatedly. And now he's panicking over his political career and running from the war as fast as he can. But it's not going to work.
Oregonians will hold him accountable.
Update: I just remembered this excellent video from The Accountability Project, as highlighted by Kelly Steele here at BlueOregon three months ago.
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Jun 17, '07
Geo. Will has been known to change his mind and make sense on occasion, but he always carries Republican water if possible - see G Smith.
12:10 a.m.
Jun 18, '07
Yeah, I've always considered George Will to be fairly smart and honest. Which is why his comments that Gordon Smith's Iraq positioning is related to partisan politics are so credible.
Jun 18, '07
I am so sick and tired of the bait and switch, moving goal posts strategy which is the so-called surge.
Now that the Democrats are in power, don't they bear the responsibility for continuing the war. When you have such heavyweights as Sen. Joe Biden [D-Del.] claiming (just this Sunday) that not to have voted in favor of the last war-suplemental would have left soldiers without bullets (!) it's no wonder that Congress has an even lower approval rating than Dubya.
For all of those calling for just a little more time in order to turn things around, i have one question. How many more Americans must die between now and then? (I have given up trying to use Iraqi casualties to try and persuade.) Every month, month in month out, some 60, 80 or a hundred US soldiers, marines and airmen (and KBR mercenaries) are lost. So while you're on your Fourth of July break, Senator... how many will die? Please, do the math. Waiting until September Congressman? How many more will die? Please, do the math... America, was removing Saddam worth the lives of 3600 Americans (and 500 billion dollars, American?) Please, do the math.
Jun 18, '07
America, was removing Saddam worth the lives of 3600 Americans (and 500 billion dollars, American?)
It depends on who is asked that question. Madeleine Albright said that the deaths of half a million Iraqi children were worth whatever the US-sponsored UN sanctions on Iraq achieved. Let's be candid, the vast majority of Americans and the politicians they vote for don't care about the Iraqis, the Palestinians in their ghettos, the Lebanese slaughtered by the Israelis using US-supplied weapons, the Afghani civilians murdered by US and Nato forces, and countless others. As for the 3600 and counting American military personnel that have been killed and the tens of thousands maimed, the vast majority of Americans don't care about them either. If they did, they wouldn't have been so careless about supporting this war in the first place, and at the last election they would have tossed out all the politicians who voted for the war. And they wouldn't vote in 2008 for president or senator anyone who voted for the war and its continuance, but they probably will.
Jun 18, '07
As I pointed out at my place Will's BS started with Title, An Iraq Caucus of One. Excuse me, hasn't Chuck Hagel been in that caucus for at least two years. And of course how can Smith be taken seriously when he still supports super hawk John McCain?
Jun 18, '07
Let's be candid, the vast majority of Americans and the politicians they vote for don't care about the Iraqis
I agree, and sadly, can't even accuse you of hyperbole. I tried to make the same point here: bloggy
Certainly, the vast majority of early war supporters amongst the Dems in Congress voted to give their Constitutional war powers over to an AWOL alcoholic not out of personal conviction, but rather out of political expediency.
Indeed, it is entirely political.
2:13 p.m.
Jun 18, '07
If he is so sick in his stomach over the disaster last summer, then why did he vote to hand Bush a blank check to continue the disaster just last month?
Smith is a flat out lying asshole. But why the media isn't calling him on it is beyond me.
Jun 18, '07
Smith is a flat out lying asshole. But why the media isn't calling him on it is beyond me.
Simple. They're accomplices. It doesn't matter who runs against Smith, practically all of the non-alternative newspapers will endorse Smith. And, the way the Willy Weak fell for the Betsy Johnson smear campaign they will probably also endorse Smith.