Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Another Democrat sees merit in the "surge"
Another Democratic Congressman has gone to Iraq and now sees merit in the "surge." Nevada rep Shelley Berkley, a critic of the war in Iraq, "said Monday the U.S. military and Iraqi police have made more progress than she expected in quelling violence that had beset portions of the country." The most curious thing about her statement was not the reversal of her previously anti-surge position, but her surprise at what she is seeing in Iraq:
"This is a difference from what I anticipated," Berkley said. "I did not anticipate the progress and the extraordinary morale of our troops.
"They believe they are turning the corner," Berkley said. "Nobody is doing a victory lap at this point, but the reality is the military has done an extraordinary job."
Berkley's praise extended to the Iraqi police who are assisting U.S. troops in patrolling neighborhoods.
"For years we had heard they weren't ready to take over, but at this point there is such a significant difference," Berkley said. "The Iraqis are truly stepping up to the plate and that accounts for the lowering of violence.
"Wherever you go, Iraqis and our American servicemen are telling us that the difference is dramatic," Berkley said. "The violence is down 60 percent from last year."
The question is, why is the progress different than she "anticipated," why is she surprised at the "extraordinary morale of our troops"? Neither the progress nor the morale of our troops is in the least bit surprising, other than to people who "know" everything they know from left-wing sources. Could it be that Rep. Berkley only knows what she sees in the mainstream media?
4 Comments:
By 
, at
Tue Dec 25, 11:28:00 AM:
Also, how does she know that this surge is now working? A simple estimate after being there for...how long was she in Iraq? Days? Weeks? How much area exactly did she cover in order to make this estimate? What areas was she in? Whom did she speak to? How can she compare if this was the first time for her in Iraq? Did some military commander throw some numbers at her? Did she get a copy of the Washington Post while in Iraq? I think there's a bit more to this than meets the eye....
-j.b.
By 
D.E. Cloutier, at
Tue Dec 25, 01:32:00 PM:
"...only knows what she sees in the mainstream media."
Let's face it, TH. Republican administrations seldom bring in world-class publicists. The talented Republican flacks usually work for corporations or business-oriented PR firms.
In my lifetime, only one Republican President has had world-class PR skills -- Ronald Reagan in his first term.
In the first four years, Reagan had no problem getting his message across. And he had an excellent PR support team.
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Tue Dec 25, 02:10:00 PM:
P.S. Republicans have to deal with an unsympathetic news media. So what. Successful corporations have to deal with that problem all the time. The best and the brighest in business do it quite effectively.
By , at
Tue Dec 25, 10:39:00 PM:
I think a primary problem is that the best and brightest are in business, not politics.
