Weekly Standard Editor Kristol Criticizes Surge Critics

Bill Kristol attacked those who disagree with Bush's escalation policy today on tv. He said opponents of the surge should just shut up for six months. To that I say, critics of the war have been shut out of the debate from day one.

He has been wrong straight down the line on Iraq. He has absolutely no military experience to draw from. And frankly I cannot conceive of anyone with half a brain putting any stock into what he says.

Check it out:

Kristol On War Critics: ‘It’s So Irresponsible That They Can’t Be Quiet For Six Or Nine Months’
This morning on Fox News, Weekly Standard editor William Kristol said that opponents of escalation in Congress are “leap-frogging each other in the degrees of irresponsibility they’re willing to advocate.” Kristol said, “It’s just unbelievable. … It’s so irresponsible that they can’t be quiet for six or nine months,” adding, “You really wonder, do they want it to work or not? I really wonder that.”
thinkprogress.org...

We, the people should force Mr. Kristol and his worthless, warmongering lot, into serving in the United States Marine Corps. For no less than two years. With high probability of Iraq duty.

That might change his/their perspective a bit.

[edit on 1/21/07 by EastCoastKid]

What do you expect from Fox and Friends of the bush and cheney club, they have their propaganda machine at full gear and non stop.

Don't you get it darnit bush and cheney have a job to do how dare Americans to be anti war.

That is the leading conservative magazine... do you expect them to critisize Bush?

I agree they should shout down plans before they can see its effectiveness.. I dont like playing politics with war. I can't wait for a dem to sit in the white house though.

Irresponsible? Oh, how foolish of me, I forgot. Silent obedience has always been the cornerstone of responsible citizenship in a democracy, hasn't it?

Regardless of whether or not the surge is a good idea, telling the people who are supposed to be the ultimate authority in this country that they need to shut up to be responsible citizens is ridiculous.

The majority of Americans think this war is a failure and think this troop surge is moving in the wrong direction. Sometimes presidents have to buck popular opinion and stand on principle. I'm thankful for several who have done so, particularly President Lincoln, but when it fails, then you have an obligation to the people to come back and explain to them why we had to try, admit that it didn't work out the way you expected, restate your convictions but also be prepared to compromise to stave off complete failure.

If you're President Bush right now, the only thing to do is to say,
"I've done everything I can think of, but this problem is more difficult than I gave it credit for. We need a concensus to move forward on, because I refuse to sacrifice the stability of our political process in the name of getting my way.

At present there remains a significant minority of public opinion that believes it would be incredibly foolish to simply abandon our responsibility to Iraq, and so long as the newly elected congress is willing to refrain from simply ripping us out, I am going to seek a plan that addresses that concern. I do however acknowledge the majority opinion that this is not working and was poorly done early on, and so I am asking the Congress to assemble a group to work hand in hand with my people and build a solution that we all are willing to attempt. We will not find a way through this and we will not allow this issue to do any further harm to the unity of our people. We're all here to serve the American citizens' interests and it's time for both of our parties to abandon anything other than that.

Of course, that's not what's going to happen. Nobody wants to admit that they were wrong in a substantial way. Democrats will not take responsibility for not making a stand earlier and forcing a compromise; Bush's failure in Iraq might be bad for America, but it's good for the party. Bush will not take responsibility for refusing to adjust at every turn, for embracing a bad idea and protecting it from the facts, etc.

Everyone wants to be the one who got their way and prevailed in solving this problem on their own terms. Compromise and concensus are concepts lost upon our political system.

Allow me to speak in theological terms for a minute. There were certain things that the God of the Old Testament disliked with intensity. One of those things was a willfully insolent child. The voice who spoke his message said, "spare the rod, spoil the child." Bush got way too much leeway growing up. As he has always been allowed to do, he is now sticking his chin out and digging his heels in in defiance of a higher authority - that of the people. He, for the very first time, is truly up against something more powerful than he is even able to manage and control. If we through our elected officals do not put a stop to this insanity very quickly, the wrecklessly dangerous president will wind up getting our country involved in an even bigger morass than now seems possible.