Ron Demarest – 12/31/06

This page was last updated on January 1, 2007.

Iraq policy is insane; Ron Demarest; Beaver County Times; December 31, 2006.

This is at least the 10^th letter from Mr. Demarest since August 2004 bashing President Bush, Republicans, and/or conservatives. In July 2006, Mr. Demarest wrote two letters in two weeks telling us the U.S. isn’t being fair to terrorists. In September 2006, Mr. Demarest not only told us the terrorist surveillance program for intercepting international communications to/from suspect terrorists is unconstitutional, but he also asserted no laws should be passed to make it legal.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“There is one word for the idea of sending thousands of more U.S. troops to Iraq - insanity.”

[RWC] What are Mr. Demarest’s qualifications for making such a decision? Personally, I don’t know whether it makes sense or not.

Right or wrong, Mr. Demarest’s opinion appears to put him at odds with the troops serving in Iraq. During Defense Secretary Gates’ recent trip to Iraq, the enlisted men/women told him they though more troops would help. In fairness, though, I suspect the “boots” already on the ground usually want more “boots on the ground.”

“This administration started the wrong war against the wrong enemy and then lost it through incompetence. Politicians who will not now acknowledge it to have been a mistake do not have the required judgment to become president.”

[RWC] I didn’t recognize we lost.

“When U.S. Sen. John McCain calls for large numbers of new troops, he is engaging in a political stunt that he knows can never and will never come to pass.”

[RWC] Why not? Recently, new Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said he could support an increase if he felt the mission was right.

“The Bush-Cheney-McCain arguments are incoherent when Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki is closer to Muqtada al Sadr and Iran than to the United States, when their parliamentary speaker says that the Jews are responsible for the violence in Iraq and when sharia law is being imposed on women by militias in the midst of a civil war with many factions.”

[RWC] I could be wrong, but I don’t recall President Bush and/or VP Cheney calling for more troops, at least not yet. Ever since the war began, President Bush said the generals running operations in Iraq would decide manpower levels.

“Every day we remain in Iraq provides more recruits for al Qaida. Since 99 percent of the insurgency is made up of Iraqis, the idea that ‘they would follow us here’ is absurd.”

[RWC] So, al-Qaida wasn’t recruiting before we went into Iraq? Come on Mr. Demarest, get a new talking point that is not so absurd.

“To those who still support Bush and his war, I would propose this: Since you claim we are fighting for freedom and democracy in Iraq, hold one more election in Iraq, a referendum on the question of whether the American occupation should continue.”

[RWC] I get a kick out this paragraph. I could be wrong, but I suspect Mr. Demarest never believed the Iraqis would ever hold elections, ratify a constitution, and elect its own government. Now Mr. Demarest wants another election.

The conflict isn’t and never was primarily about “fighting for freedom and democracy in Iraq.” The conflict is also a U.S. national security issue. If we cut and run, just about everyone believes Iraq will turn into what Afghanistan was except it would have oil income to fund terrorists to come after the U.S. on our home soil.

When we held similar elections in Germany and Japan “on the question of whether the American occupation should continue” after World War II, what were the results? Oh wait, we didn’t hold those elections, did we.

“Such a vote would either legitimize our presence or justify our withdrawal. U.S. State Department polls indicate that 70 percent of Iraqis want us to leave and that 61 percent think attacks on American soldiers are justified.

“It is not possible to ‘succeed’ in a country where more than six in 10 of the people want you dead.”

[RWC] After we nuked Japan, I wonder what percentage of Japanese wanted us dead. I could ask the same question about Germans after World War II.