Arthur Brown – 9/18/07

This page was last updated on October 6, 2007.

Bush can’t leave soon enough; Arthur Brown; Beaver County Times; September 18, 2007.

Below is a detailed critique of the letter.

“President Bush is at it again.

“Gen. David Petraeus gave his report and said he wrote the speech himself. But what he didn’t say was whether he got any help from the White House and whether anyone saw the speech before its presentation.”

[RWC] In the second paragraph of his report to Congress, Gen. Petraeus wrote, “At the outset, I would like to note that this is my testimony. Although I have briefed my assessment and recommendations to my chain of command, I wrote this testimony myself. It has not been cleared by, nor shared with, anyone in the Pentagon, the White House, or Congress.”

Where does Mr. Brown get his facts/news?

“Bush knows it was a mistake to invade Iraq. Now, he trying [sic] to find a way out.

“The Democrats have always insisted on troop withdrawal attached to the funding bill, which Bush vowed to veto. The Democrats have always given in to him because if they didn’t, the Republicans would claim the Democrats are not supporting the troops.”

[RWC] You’ll note Mr. Brown doesn’t insist on a troop withdrawal schedule from our enemy. Why is that?

“Bush is now taking advice form [sic] the top general in Iraq, and the Republicans will use it as point in the 2008 election.”

[RWC] When didn’t President Bush take the advice of his “top general?”

“Bush claims withdrawing all the troops from Iraq would create chaos in Iraq, but did anyone stop to think that he started the chaos in 2001?”

[RWC] What did we do in Iraq in 2001? Note Mr. Brown didn’t disagree with the claim that “withdrawing all the troops from Iraq would create chaos in Iraq.”

“In my opinion, Bush doesn’t belong in the White House. Thank God he will be gone soon.

“Voters should be aware of the fact that if a Republican is elected president, that person will follow the same path as Bush.”

[RWC] I’m only speculating, but don’t count on a Democrat president to surrender. While many Democrat partisans want a Republican president to surrender, I’m not so sure they’d be so eager for surrender on their own watch. When Democrats running for president were asked during a recent debate if they’d remove troops from Iraq immediately upon taking office, or even by the end of their first term, candidates Mrs. Bill Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama all said they could not make such a commitment. Today, however, these are the same people claiming President Bush needs to immediately remove all troops from Iraq. This is just another example of some people playing politics with national security.