The National Security Debate

On C-Span, I listened to a caller today criticize General Zinni for daring to comment on Iraq; after all, he was nothing but a retired general. Right-wing Republicans can't seem to deal with reality these days so they try and shoot the messenger. Actually General Zinni sounded a great deal more informed than the caller but that's not a surprise (FYI, General Zinni is a Republican, though he admits to being a member of that endangered species, a moderate).

The American Pundit has a thoughtful post on the new security agenda of the Democrats:

Right-wing criticism is predictable: the Democrat's plan isn't detailed enough, or it's just election year rhetoric. But the fact remains -- as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice just acknowledged -- President Bush and his Congressional "rubber stamp" Republicans made "thousands" of unnecessary mistakes in their incompetent attempts to secure America. Larry Diamond, Dr. Rice's eyes and ear in Iraq, goes so far as to describe Republican failures as "criminal negligence".

Nevertheless, let's deal with the criticism. For every point in the Democrat's plan, they've introduced detailed legislation. Over and over again, Democrats sought to turn words into deeds to secure our country, but over and over again, they were obstructed and thwarted by the Republican-controlled Congress. Democrats offered detailed legislation to advance every point of their agenda. That's not just rhetoric. If Republicans had had the smarts to pass that legislation, or at least sit down and compromise, it would be law, the President would have to act upon it, and America would be more secure.

I don't agree with everything The American Pundit says (aaahhhhh, in a real democracy we can say things like that!), but I appreciate that he goes on talking about proposals and solutions for real security—and they make sense. When you read about some of the common sense solutions Democrats have been suggesting, you have to wonder why the president and his fellow Republicans, with all the power they have, have been sitting on their hands for over four years? We need people in Congress who spend more time implementing common sense solutions rather than attacking the other party or bashing retired generals who know perfectly well what's going on.