It is Democrats Who Dishonor our War Dead

It is Democrats Who Dishonor our War Dead

As pleasant as it was to read of a Democrat asserting that those who had given their lives in service of this country in Iraq deserve respect, the words of Washington state Democratic Party Chairman Paul Berendt sound like just another attempt to exploit their deaths for partisan political advantage. Benendt and the state Democratic Party accused representative George Nethercutt of serving as "an administration shill who insults the service of the men and women brave enough to serve their country."
That criticism bears the taint of Patty Murray's reelection campaign more than a sincere appreciation of our soldiers' sacrifices. Nethercutt is challenging Murray for her supposedly safe seat in the "World's Greatest Deliberative Body," a distinction that is diluted by her membership.
Nethercutt's offense was that he criticized news outlets for concentrating too much upon reporting casualty counts and giving too little attention to the reconstruction efforts. "The story of what we've done in the postwar period is remarkable. It is a better and more important story than losing a couple of soldiers every day."
Nethercutt made those remarks before a small gathering at the University of Washington. He had just returned from Iraq and was giving a first person account of his observations. He was noting a disconnect between what his own eyes told him and what this country's left-leaning news media was choosing to report.
The state Democratic Party issued its own review of Nethercutt's comments, accusing him of, "insulting the service of hundreds of U.S. service men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country."
If Nethercutt is a shill, then several Democrats who have also visited Iraq are also shills. Congressmen of both parties who have visited Iraq have returned telling similar stories. The reconstruction is going well. The Iraqis like us. Their lives are getting better. The goal of a stable, prosperous, peaceful, pro-Western, democratic Iraq that will serve as a beacon for the entire Arab world to follow is achievable.
The news media, which is supposed to be our eyes and ears on the world, seems to be blind and deaf and relies upon Ted Kennedy to write their copy for them.
In truth, it is the Democrats who harp on the body counts, and dishonestly complain that things are falling apart in Iraq, who are dishonoring our war dead. Does it really honor our war dead to count their bodies without acknowledging what they died for? Are their sacrifices honored when politicians cast votes and make speeches that undermine what they strived for?
George Nethercutt did not dishonor the memories of the dead. It is people like Senators Ted Kennedy (D-Jim Beam) and John Kerry (D-Theresa Heinz) who spit on their graves when they use those deaths to advance their own corrupt political causes. It is the New York Times, NBC, CBS, ABC, NPR and CNN that belittle their sacrifice and the sacrifices of their families by not telling the world what they and their brothers and sisters in arms are achieving in Iraq.
You have probably heard that more soldiers have died since George W. Bush declared a conclusion to "major combat operations" than died previously. But, have you heard that more Iraqi children are in school now than were before the war? You hear more about suicide bombing attacks than you do that, in spite of Saddamite saboteurs, more electricity is being generated in Iraq now than was before the war.
If any dishonor is being done to the memories of our war dead, it is the work of those who use their deaths to gain political advantage. And it is the dirty work of those who elect to ignore the accomplishments, because acknowledging their good work would serve to bolster the reelection of a president they have come to despise. And what greater dishonor could be done to their memories than to hand Iraq over to the United Nations, which makes no distinction between democracies and despotism?
It will be interesting to watch if Patty Murray follows her leader and votes with Ted Kennedy to defund Iraqi reconstruction and undo all the progress that our war deads' lives have purchased. If she does that, then she will be the only major candidate in the 2004 Senate race who failed to honor their sacrifice.