For those who've not been paying attention:
Patriotic: An individual who holds unwavering blind faith in the reason(s) we went to war in Iraq and an equally strong support for remaining in country until such time as the adminstration deems appropriate while ignoring the cost overrun and the ever shifting success targets.
Unpatriotic: Everyone else.
U.S. Troops Facing Increased Violence. More American soldiers have been killed since the handover of sovereignty on June 28 than during the initial invasion. The numbers show that "18 months after the invasion, the fighting appears to be intensifying rather than waning." In total, 1,713 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and over 12,600 have been wounded. [Washington Post, 9/9/04; Brookings Institution, "Iraq Index," Updated 5/26/05; Los Angeles Times, 6/17/05]
So what does a Patriot sound like?
"I want those families to know: One, we're not going to leave them - not going to allow their mission to go in vain; and two, we will complete the mission, and the world will be better off for it," Bush said. (...) "I think about Iraq every day. Every single day, because I understand we have kids in harm's way," the president said. "And I worry about their families; and I obviously, any time there's a death, I grieve."
The top U.S. combat commander in Iraq says American troop levels likely will remain steady through early next year and that drawdowns likely will not depend on political developments in the nascent Iraqi government. (...) “I would be opposed to announcing a timeline in advance, because that’s not conditions-based. That’s not based on the conditions on the ground. That is an arbitrary decision just based on a calendar. And I don’t think that necessarily meshes with the conditions that we might see here in-country.”
WASHINGTON - As Americans in growing numbers call for a reduction in the U.S. military presence in Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said yesterday that it was uncertain when the Pentagon could start drawing down its estimated 139,000 troops there. His comment cast doubt over a recent prediction of significant troop reductions within a year.In March, Gen. George W. Casey, the top U.S. officer in Iraq, said he expected "fairly substantial reductions" in the number of American troops there by March 2006. But Rumsfeld told reporters at the Pentagon yesterday that he has not received a recommendation from U.S. commanders in Iraq about future troop levels and did not know when he might.
Di Rita says U-S troops won't leave Iraq until the mission is successfully completed. He says increasingly, the definition of success rests on a self-sufficient Iraqi government and vital economy.
D. CHENEY: We'll leave as soon as the task is over with. We haven't set a deadline or a date. It depends upon conditions. We have to achieve our objectives, complete the mission. And the two main requirements are, the Iraqis in a position to be able to govern themselves, and they're well on their way to doing that, and the other is able to defend themselves, and they're well on their way to doing that. They just announced that in the last day or two here, there've been stories about a major movement of some 40,000 Iraqi troops into Baghdad to focus specifically on the problem there. (...) So I think we're making major progress. And, unfortunately, as I say, it does involve sending young Americans in harm's way. But America will be safer in the long run when Iraq and Afghanistan as well are no longer safe havens for terrorists or places where people can gather and plan and organize attacks against the United States.
Unpatriotic America Haters
"Things aren't getting better; they're getting worse," Sen. Hagel told U.S. News and World Report magazine. "The White House is completely disconnected from reality. It's like they're just making it up as they go along. The reality is that we're losing in Iraq."
"The U.S. military presence has become part of the problem, not part of the solution," Kennedy said in remarks prepared for delivery at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. "We need a new plan that sets fair and realistic goals for self-government in Iraq, and works with the Iraqi government on a specific timetable for the honorable homecoming of our forces."While not the first member of Congress to call for a withdrawal of the troops, Kennedy is the first senator to do so. And his remarks continued what has been a long and blistering assault on the administration's Iraq policies.
Republican National Committee spokesman Brian Jones criticized Kennedy's timing. "Its remarkable that Sen. Kennedy would deliver such an overtly pessimistic message only days before the Iraqi election," said Jones. "Kennedy's partisan political attack stands in stark contrast to President Bush's vision of spreading freedom around the world."
So, simply put... if you want to keep troops in harms way, you're a patriot and if you want to bring them home, you hate America. How does that translate to the men and women serving us in Iraq?
Posted by kerry at June 22, 2005 05:12 AM | TrackBack