Dems: We Don't Have an Iraq Plan, But That's OK...

Nancy Pelosi in her Natural Habitat:















The Loft - http://www.gopusa.com/theloft -

Posted By Bobby Eberle On December 16, 2005 at 7:16 am
Prepare your mind and body for a trip into the Twilight Zone. Nancy Pelosi, the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives said yesterday that the Democrats will offer no unified position on Iraq in 2006. Despite claims by Democrats and the media that the Bush administration has no plan, Pelosi said that differing opinions within her party regarding Iraq are “a sign of strength.”
In comments made to the Washington Post, Pelosi told reporters and editors that Democrats “should not seek a unified position on an exit strategy in Iraq, calling the war a matter of individual conscience and saying differing positions within the caucus are a source of strength for the party.”

Pelosi said Democrats will produce an issue agenda for the 2006 elections but it will not include a position on Iraq. There is consensus within the party that President Bush has mismanaged the war and that a new course is needed, but House Democrats should be free to take individual positions, she said.
So, let’s get this straight… First, the Democrats are upset because they think the president doesn’t have a plan for Iraq, yet the Dems are going on record saying they won’t be offering one at all? Second, not only will they not be offering a plan, but the fact that they won’t is actually a good thing? Did I get that right?
The Democrats are in such a mess regarding Iraq, it’s a wonder how they can take themselves seriously. As the Post points out, Pelosi came out in favor of Rep. John Murtha’s recent call for swift withdrawal from Iraq. That position was denounced by House Democrat Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer. Pelosi’s comments of no unified message are counter to recent statements by other leading Democrats:
Her comments ruling out a caucus position appeared to put Pelosi at odds with some other party officials. Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean recently said Democrats were beginning to coalesce around a strategy that would pull out all troops over the next two years. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said on the day Murtha offered his plan, “As for Iraq policy, at the right time, we’ll have a position.”
All one needs to do is look at yesterday’s elections in Iraq — elections in which all major factions participated — and see that there is a plan for Iraq, and it’s working. The Iraqi people are building a new government and charting a new course in which Kurds, Sunnis, and Shites will work together unlike any other time in their history. That is real progress, and it is truly remarkable.
For Nancy Pelosi to criticize the president yet offer no plan of her own is poor politics. To offer no plan, yet claim that it is a “show of strength” is absolutely absurd.