Washington Post Scrapes Bottom Of Barrel To Find People Who Think War Isn't "Lost"
April 29, 2007 -- 7:43 AM EST // //
The other day, an editor of The Washington Post's outlook section sent out an email soliciting opinions from a variety of experts on the question of whether Harry Reid was right in saying that the Iraq War was "lost." They promised to publish replies on the Op-ed page today.
Well, the piece is now up, and guess what? The Post article publishes the names of only three people who answer the question with an outright "No." And guess who the three are:
No. There has been a dramatic decrease in sectarian violence; the situation in Anbar province and within the Sunni community in general has been transformed; the Maliki government has been incredibly supportive of efforts to go after Shiite militiamen. But it's going to be a long, hard slog.-- Frederick W. Kagan, American Enterprise Institute; proponent of the recent surge
And:
No. Many said Anbar province was "lost" six months ago. Today, local tribes are cooperating with us to fight al-Qaeda. Iraqis, with our help, are confronting the sectarian violence in Baghdad, seeking to take back their capital so they can pursue political reconciliation.-- Stephen J. Hadley, national security adviser
And:
No. The war is not lost -- no more than it was in winter 1776, July 1864, December 1945 or November 1950. The challenge is winning back hearts and minds at home, rather than in Iraq, where brave thousands join us each day to fight an evil sort the likes of which we haven't seen in recent memory.-- Victor Davis Hanson, military historian, Hoover Institution
Note that the WaPo describes Kagan as a mere "proponent" of the surge, a description that doesn't make it clear that Kagan is in fact one of its principal architects. This is pretty questionable in and of itself, because it doesn't clarify the degree to which Kagan's professional reputation is tied up in whether the surge succeeds. Bad, WaPo, bad!
That aside, it's pretty striking that the only three people the paper apparently could find to say "No" to the question were (1) someone who is President Bush's national security adviser (Hadley); (b) someone who actually helped create the current plan (Kagan); and (c) someone who -- well, someone who is Victor Davis Hanson. In fairness, WaPo also quotes two others saying, in effect, "not yet." But both also suggest that the answer turns on just how much in the way of resources the U.S. is willing to sink into the conflict, which -- given the obvious limits on such resources -- is just a way of ducking the question.
Meanwhile, here's the list of people saying "Yes" to the "is the war lost" question:
-- Barbara K. Bodine, a former ambassador and a coordinatorfor post-conflict reconstruction for Baghdad and central Iraq in 2003-- Paul R. Pillar, former deputy chief, CIA Counterterrorist Center
-- Bruce Hoffman, Georgetown University; adviser, Iraq Study Group
-- Robert Dallek, presidential historian
-- Nathaniel Fick, former Marine infantry officer in Afghanistan and Iraq
Yep, those are the people who agree with Reid, despite the fact that David Broder says he is an "embarrassment" and should step down. Speaks for itself.
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