Sen. Robert Menendez: No Time to Lose Focus of the True Meaning of the Iraq Debate

[babylonsister]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-menendez/no-time-to-lose-focus-of-_b_65859.html

No Time to Lose Focus of the True Meaning of the Iraq Debate


Last week on Capitol Hill was particularly unsettling. As another 15 sons and daughters of America died in the crossfire in Iraq, as 130,000 American troops over there still saw no light at the end of the tunnel, as Osama bin Laden continued to control his own safe zone, and as the United States Senate debated a change of course, the news coverage and the political dialog zeroed in on... a newspaper ad.

A number of Republicans pointed to the ad in question while demanding, "Support the troops!" Then, they turned around and blocked a measure to give our troops time at home equal to their tours overseas -- a measure supported by the 360,000 member Military Officers Association of America. Apparently, the irony was lost on many.

And so it was another Iraq debate in Washington, perhaps the only place where the uproar over an advertisement can supplant the devastating reality on the ground. Meanwhile, buried in the who-said-what headlines about a newspaper ad was the fact that one of the most seminal weeks of the war came and went without nearly enough attention.

It was a week in which once-realistic hopes for a broad coalition needed to change course in Iraq were dashed. It was a week in which Senators whose consciences had seen enough of this awful war in July were suddenly pulled back in line with the president. And in the end, it was a week in which "stay the course" got another Republican stamp of approval.

Media interest in these developments appeared to have been sucked away by the fabricated controversy over the ad, as well as the skillfully orchestrated, if marginally accurate, PR surrounding "The Surge."

With the true significance of the week muddled, many Republicans latched onto General Petraeus, hiding behind his personal poll numbers instead of facing the facts and images from the ground. With actions like this on the most important issue we face, the Republican Party is losing the public faith more each day.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-menendez/no-time-to-lose-focus-of-_b_65859.html

[MasonJar]

1. Thank you, Senator, for speaking my exact thoughts.