Sine Qua Non

I Take Requests

Judith Weiss sent this little nugget of tin-foil wrapped creamy goodness via an e-mail asking if anyone wanted to fisk it:

Dear MoveOn member

The US occupation in Iraq has left American soldiers unprepared and vulnerable, the country degenerating into chaos, and the Iraqi people embittered and hostile. Now the President is asking Congress for a staggering $87 billion blank check to fund more of the same. Until he takes strong steps to correct this failure, Congress shouldn't give him a cent. President Bush needs to fire the team responsible -- starting with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld -- and transfer authority to the United Nations.

Please join us in telling Congress to hold on to our money until President Bush changes his team and changes his course in Iraq. You can send an email to your Member of Congress and sign our petition at:

http://www.moveon.org/firerumsfeld/

Then please pass this message along to your friends and colleagues.

She don't know me very well, do she? Or maybe, she knows me far, far too well.

I'll have to accept Judith's word that this is what is seems to be. I have no reason to doubt her, but I'm not venturing into the Move On quagmire to verify it. I suppose if I were a real "journalist" I might be tempted to validate it, but then again, fact checking is something for the little people to trouble themselves with. Maybe someone is spoofing Judith's e-mail address to get me to say something stupid. Too late, but I don't think Judith's e-mail is being spoofed either. Anyway, without further ado, let's wade into the doo-doo.

Dear MoveOn member

Heh heh, you said member. But seriously, I hope Judith isn't really a MoveOn member.

The US occupation in Iraq has left American soldiers unprepared and vulnerable, ...

Some would argue that it was eight years of the Clinton administration that left American soldiers unprepared and vulnerable, and that the liberation (important precursor of occupation generally ignored by MoveOn aficianados) of Iraq merely exposed the state of weakness to which our forces have been reduced. Nonetheless, I think our troops have demonstrated an ability to take care of themselves, and the vast majority of Iraq (and Afghanistan, and the DMZ between South Korea and North Korea), quite well.

... the country degenerating into chaos, ...

Mussolini made the trains run on time, Stalin kept the streets of Moscow safe, and Hussein kept Iraq well ordered. Pre-liberation Iraq was degenerate, but not chaotic. There was method to the madness. It's not easy to murder thousands of people month after month after month. Really, it's not.

... and the Iraqi people embittered and hostile.

Unlike the pristine, well-ordered Utopia that was Iraq before May 2003. I guess the folks at MoveOn somehow think that "subjected and terrified" is somehow preferable to "embittered and hostile." Or perhaps "embittered and hostile" is just a projection of their feelings onto the people of Iraq who are letting them down by not revolting more forcefully against their liberation.

Now the President is asking Congress for a staggering $87 billion blank check to fund more of the same.

I hate to be pedantic (heh heh), but a blank check doesn't have a dollar value on it. That's what "blank" means in this context. What do you think this is, a prescription drug benefit or something? But the adjective "staggering" is a little out of place here, considering the economic toll likely to be incurred in the future if we now just walk away. And as for funding more of the same, does that mean we are on to liberate someone else, like say, Iran?

Until he takes strong steps to correct this failure, Congress shouldn't give him a cent.

Much less 8,700,000,000,000 cents -- one cent every seventeen minutes from every man, woman, and child in this country for the next year. Well, I don't see the failure here yet, but I will give this MoveOn member extra credit for at least acknowledging that it is the Congress that authorizes expenditures and not the President. This is a substantial improvement from the usual rhetorical excess of the Left when it comes to spending by the Executive branch of government.

President Bush needs to fire the team responsible -- starting with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld --

Maybe. I don't think so, but that is the President's prerogative if he believes it is the best thing to do. But, some actual evidence of failure would seem to be a prerequisite before undertaking such a drastic action. And, of course, this presupposes that whomever President Bush might replace his team with would be an improvement in the eyes of MoveOn. Be careful what you ask for, you might get it.

... and transfer authority to the United Nations.

Bzz! Wrong answer. There's no reason to spend any effort documenting why this is a bad idea to someone who really thinks the UN can solve this problem, or indeed any problem better than the US.

Please join us in telling Congress to hold on to our money...

Our money? I'll bet there's a lot more of my money than the MoveOn author's money in the federal treasury.

... until President Bush changes his team and changes his course in Iraq.

Just a little to the East perhaps?

You can send an email to your Member of Congress and sign our petition at:

http://www.moveon.org/firerumsfeld/

Or not.

Then please pass this message along to your friends and colleagues.

Dude, I've blogged it. I've even done you the courtesy of leaving the link to your misguided missive intact, twice. Please note that while I have challenged the ideas presented and criticized them in what might be construed as a harsh, sarcastic manner, at no time did I call anyone any names. Now let's see if the folks at MoveOn will deign to offer me and Judith the same courtesy.

Posted by Charles Austin at September 18, 2003 02:58 PM