Reply #14: Great points!

[Filius Nullius]

Thanks for the analysis. You make many excellent points. However, you will recall that I started this thread by questioning why Murtha was apologizing again for "voting" to go to war. He was not apologizing for not stopping the war after it had started. I am not sure he has an accurate understanding of his own vote.

Be that as it may, I believe that Democrats should be less defensive and make far more decisive arguments against continuing to "stay the course" with a Republican Congress. They should be framing the debate as follows:

"O.K. The Administration wanted this war; we did not. We screwed up by permitting the President to make this decision. However, he assured us that he had conclusive proof of WMD and a solid plan for prosecuting the war. He said he knew what he was doing, and we trusted him because he is the President. After the commencement of hostilities, we had no choice but to go along because the troops needed our support.

"It is now very clear that the Administration got us into this war without having any proof of WMD or clear idea of how to create a secure and stable Iraq. It has made our nation less secure, not more. It is now time for the country to vote all of those who were actually in favor of starting this ill-conceived, half-hearted fiasco out of office. This will make it possible for the country to make a fresh start in deciding how to handle this debacle."