US out of Guam!
I expect that to be the next Democratic rallying cry, now that some are calling for a cut-and-run in Afghanistan:
When they won control of Congress in November, Democrats pressed their case to withdraw troops from Iraq and refocus on Afghanistan, but some are growing impatient with U.S. operations in Afghanistan as well.
A few congressional Democrats go so far as suggesting that the Pentagon should pull out of Afghanistan now, while others say that troop withdrawal will be addressed after the military is out of Iraq.
Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), a senior defense authorizer, wants the U.S. out of Afghanistan immediately, calling operations there “futile” in trying to effect political change in a country with a tangled history.
The article does point out that several leading Democrats think there's no reason to pull out of Afghanistan -- yet. After all, it's the "good war:"
With a few exceptions, congressional Democrats no longer show any hesitation about withdrawing the military from Iraq. But they are more circumspect about Afghanistan, saying that the Bush administration let the situation worsen by shifting attention onto a protracted conflict in Iraq.
“We should have never gone to Iraq, because we would have been out of Afghanistan [by now],” Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) said in a brief interview.
Murtha, the chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee and a vocal opponent of the war in Iraq, said that by September, when he takes up the fiscal 2008 war supplemental funding, he would have a better sense of how to handle Afghanistan.
In other words, this is a trial balloon for Democrat-led "charge to the rear" in Afghanistan. You can better your bottom dollar that, should Murtha and his fellow Copperheads succeed in pulling us out of Iraq, a withdrawal from Afghanistan won't be far behind. Here's a preview of some of the arguments:
But Rep. Diane Watson (D-Calif.), a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and a staunch opponent of the war in Iraq, said that it is time for the U.S. military to start leaving Afghanistan and the Middle East altogether.
“We are not securing America by being there,” she pressed. “The longer we are there, the more plots start growing in our country.”
Watson, who supported the war in Afghanistan, said that the military ought “to start leaving Afghanistan” and that the U.S. should allow Afghan officials to “formulate and run their own government.”
The anti-war grassroots movement has generally been quiet about Afghanistan as it has committed most, if not all, of its attention on Iraq.
Code Pink Women for Peace spokeswoman Dana Balicki said that her organization would like to see soldiers withdraw from Afghanistan.
“The combat forces should be replaced by international peacekeeping forces,” she said. “We should push for peace talks in the area with all groups that have power.”
Typical of the post-Vietnam American Left: America is the problem, we only make things worse wherever we go and, if only we'd talk, our opponents would be reasonable. Combine this with vague appeals to "peacekeepers" and "international monitors," and you have the complete moonbat package. (They really believe those thugs would respect peacekeepers? Since when? -ed. I guess they just want to give peace a chance.)
I don't question their patriotism (much), but I do seriously question their sense.
(hat tip: Hot Air via Blue Crab Boulevard)
LINKS: More at Power Line, Gateway Pundit, and Captain's Quarters.
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