Residual Forces

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D MN) was in Iraq over the weekend, and as I had presumed yesterday, she would not let her defeatism be swayed.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar visited Iraq Saturday and declared that the United States needs to change course and begin withdrawing troops after nearly four years of fighting.

“We’ve been in this longer than World War II,” Klobuchar said in a telephone news conference from U.S. military headquarters in Baghdad.

A good question would be, if 4 years should be a sign that a military operation or war is a failure, what would she say regarding the Kosovo situation? There are thousands of Minnesota National Guard members currently deployed there, and US troops have been there for nearly a decade.

The visit by Klobuchar and three other senators coincided with President Bush’s assertion Saturday that some lawmakers want to “micromanage our military commanders” to force a withdrawal.

“I’m sure the President doesn’t like it,” responded the Minnesota Democrat, who supports a target date for withdrawing troops. “….I think it is a good thing that Congress is standing up and asking the tough questions and pushing for the tough solutions.”

A-Klo’s solution is defeat, and turning Iraq and the middle East over to extremist regimes and terrorists. Is she willing to accept the loss of numerous allies who will once again become pawns of the extremists? Although not perfect, other Muslim nations are on the side of US in curbing the Iranian threat and that of al Qaida. They are with us,m because we are willing to be there, but if we leave, so will their opposition to extremism. Is Sen. Klobuchar willing to walk away from the spread of democracy in the Middle East?

She and Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Sen. John Sununu, R- N.H., met with Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, and other U.S. and Iraqi officials.

And what were her thoughts after meeting with the Gen. in charge of Iraq? What are her thoughts after hearing first hand from the commander on the ground in charge of the Surge? Did the Senator tell the General to his face that his plan is a failure, and she will not allow it to have a chance to work?

Instead….. She cherry picked the stories from the battlefield she brought home.

Klobuchar also met with Minnesota servicemen, including members of the 148th Fighter Wing, an Air National Guard unit based in Duluth. More than 3,000 members of the Minnesota Guard are serving in Iraq, including many whose tours were extended.

“They’re stoic,” she said. “They weren’t complaining.”

That’s what they let her slip through as a statement from the troops in the region.

Her visit follows a trip to Iraq earlier this month by Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Remember, Pawlenty came home and brought home very different messages from troops. The troops Pawlenty spoke to asked him to go home and re-win the resolve to finish the mission.

I hope that the local media follows up on this partisan trip by Klobuchar. I hope they get her to detail how she can go to Iraq, and come back saying exactly the same thing as she was before. She’s got a documented record of being against this war and calling for defeat. Is she too afraid to admit that maybe she is wrong, and that the Surge does have a chance to turn the tide in Iraq so we can leave victoriously?

Of course, if she did she’d be a flip flopper. And if the Surge is successful, Klobuchar and the Democrats will have egg on their face and be seen as the peacenick pacifists who are weak on defense, which will kill her and them at the polls. She’s going to do everything in her power to avoid both situations, even if that means not giving American troops the support they need to be victorious.

Is Sen. Klobuchar even willing to consider victory, or is her mind clearly made up that defeat is the only plan worth looking at? Is she against victory altogether, or does she just not trust that our military is capable of it?