very good review of strategy re Iraq against McCain

[kristopher]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amb-marc-ginsberg/al-qaeda-clinton-obama-_b_89678.html

Whether Clinton or Obama emerge as the frontrunner after tomorrow night's 4 state "son of super Tuesday' contests, Democrats must play offense on Al Qaeda in Iraq, Iraq itself, and the broader war against Al Qaeda. For in the struggle to defeat Al Qaeda, Sen. McCain and the Republican Party have largely served up a spent ammo bag.

Their record can be summed up as follows:

1. No attack on the homeland since 2001.
2. The surge in Iraq has dramatically quelled violence.
3. We have killed and captured a card stack of key Al Qaeda operatives.

If this is the best that McCain and the GOP will muster, Democrats have much to run on.

Why?

Bin Laden and his chief deputy are still at large, Afghanistan resembles Iraq of 2003, and according to the CIA, Al Qaeda has reconstituted itself, becoming a more lethal force than at anytime since 9/11 and the number of Al Qaeda-inspired terrorists have dramatically increased throughout the Muslim world.

So when it comes to Democrats taking the offensive, here are some words of advice when the argument resumes after tomorrow:

1. Concede the point on no attack on the homeland, but give credit where it is most due: to our first...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amb-marc-ginsberg/al-qaeda-clinton-obama-_b_89678.html

[GainesT1958]

1. Three words:

"Hundred years' war"!:eyes:

You reckon John McCain really DOES want his great-great grandson to be fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2108?:eyes:

B-)

[margotb822]

2. Saying there has been no attack on the "homeland" since 9/11 is bogus

There is NO PROOF that Bush is responsible for this situation. There is no way to prove that, if someone else were in office, an attack would have happened.

Plus, there have been plenty of other attacks around the world (London, Madrid, Bali) which are attributed to the terrorists we are trying to stop.

[kristopher]

3. Agreed. But is that a point to get hung up on?

Or is it better move past that to something more relevant to the election.

At least, that's my take.

[margotb822]

4. I think it is relevant

McBush supporters are going to talk about how tough they are on National Security and Defense and they're going to point to the fact that we haven't had "another 9/11," which is an impossible argument. I think it is important to point out that there is no way to judge "what would have happenened if..."

[Winterblues]

5. But there was an attack of epic proportions on Republican's watch

Republicans had absolute control over Congress and the Whitehouse and did absolutely nothing to prevent the 9-11 attack...In fact the Just Us Dept under Ashcroft submitted it's annual budget on 9-10 and all funds to combat terrorism had been stripped from the budget..Cheney was the person established to educate the Administration on Terrorism and held zero meetings during those first nine mon ths..Any other Administration would have prevented this attack but not this Cabal.