But What If It's True?

The Washington Post seems bothered by Republican criticism of John Kerry for his increasingly shrill anti-war stance. His defeatism, even going so far yesterday as to ridicule Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

Sen. John Kerry on Thursday accused President Bush and interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi of misleading Americans on how the war against Iraqi insurgents is faring.

Allawi, addressing a joint session of Congress Thursday, said Iraqi elections were on track for January, but Kerry said the volatile and violent situation there made such a vote unlikely.

"The United States and the Iraqis have retreated from whole areas of Iraq (news - web sites)," Kerry said. "There are no-go zones in Iraq today. You can't hold an election in a no-go zone."

In a continuation of his newfound strategy of hitting the president hard on Iraq at every opportunity, the Democratic candidate accused Bush and senior administration officials of contradicting themselves.

Is this how Kerry plans to win the war on terror - by calling the Iraqi Prime Minister a liar and by ridiculing our allies?

I think that Dick Cheney's subsequent criticism of Kerry was relatively mild, considering the offensiveness of Kerry's comments.

"I must say I was appalled at the complete lack of respect Senator Kerry showed for this man of courage, when he rushed to hold a press conference and attack the prime minister, a man America must stand beside to defeat the terrorists," Cheney told several thousand supporters.


"John Kerry is trying to tear down all the good that has been accomplished, and his words are destructive to our effort in Iraq and in the global war on terror," Cheney said. "As Prime Minister Allawi said in his speech, and I quote, 'When political leaders sound the siren of defeatism in the face of terrorism, it only encourages more violence. End quote"

If the Washington Post finds that unacceptable, then perhaps they should point out one word that is untrue or inaccurately describes Kerry's comments yesterday.

The overall commander of North Vietmanese forces, general Giap, credited John Kerry with handing the communists a victory they never could have won by force of arms. Today, John Kerry is trying to achieve something similar for the terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarquawi.