Who Will Say 'No More'?, Gary Hart
- From: Otis Willie <americanwarlibrary@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2005 21:37:30 GMT
Who Will Say 'No More'?, Gary Hart
By Gary Hart Wednesday, August 24, 2005; Page A15
"Waist deep in the Big Muddy and the big fool said to push on," warned
an anti-Vietnam war song those many years ago. The McGovern
presidential campaign, in those days, which I know something about, is
widely viewed as a cause for the decline of the Democratic Party, a
gateway through which a new conservative era entered.
Like the cat that jumped on a hot stove and thereafter wouldn't jump
on any stove, hot or cold, today's Democratic leaders didn't want to
make that mistake again. Many supported the Iraq war resolution and --
as the Big Muddy is rising yet again -- now find themselves
tongue-tied or trying to trump a war president by calling for
deployment of more troops. Thus does good money follow bad and bad
politics get even worse.
History will deal with George W. Bush and the neoconservatives who
misled a mighty nation into a flawed war that is draining the finest
military in the world, diverting Guard and reserve forces that should
be on the front line of homeland defense, shredding international
alliances that prevailed in two world wars and the Cold War,
accumulating staggering deficits, misdirecting revenue from education
to rebuilding Iraqi buildings we've blown up, and weakening America's
national security.
But what will history say about an opposition party that stands silent
while all this goes on? My generation of Democrats jumped on the hot
stove of Vietnam and now, with its members in positions of
responsibility, it is afraid of jumping on any political stove. In
their leaders, the American people look for strength, determination
and self-confidence, but they also look for courage, wisdom, judgment
and, in times of moral crisis, the willingness to say: "I was wrong."
To stay silent during such a crisis, and particularly to harbor the
thought that the administration's misfortune is the Democrats'
fortune, is cowardly. In 2008 I want a leader who is willing now to
say: "I made a mistake, and for my mistake I am going to Iraq and
accompanying the next planeload of flag-draped coffins back to Dover
Air Force Base. And I am going to ask forgiveness for my mistake from
every parent who will talk to me."
Further, this leader should say: "I am now going to give a series of
speeches across the country documenting how the administration did not
tell the American people the truth, why this war is making our country
more vulnerable and less secure, how we can drive a wedge between
Iraqi insurgents and outside jihadists and leave Iraq for the Iraqis
to govern, how we can repair the damage done to our military, what we
and our allies can do to dry up the jihadists' swamp, and what
dramatic steps we must take to become energy-secure and prevent Gulf
Wars III, IV and so on."
At stake is not just the leadership of the Democratic Party and the
nation but our nation's honor, our nobility and our principles.
Franklin D. Roosevelt established a national community based on social
justice. Harry Truman created international networks that repaired the
damage of World War II and defeated communism. John F. Kennedy
recaptured the ideal of the republic and the sense of civic duty. To
expect to enter this pantheon, the next Democratic leader must now
undertake all three tasks.
But this cannot be done while the water is rising in the Big Muddy of
the Middle East. No Democrat, especially one now silent, should expect
election by default. The public trust must be earned, and speaking
clearly, candidly and forcefully now about the mess in Iraq is the
place to begin.
The real defeatists today are not those protesting the war. The real
defeatists are those in power and their silent supporters in the
opposition party who are reduced to repeating "Stay the course" even
when the course, whatever it now is, is light years away from the one
originally undertaken. The truth is we're way off course. We've
stumbled into a hornet's nest. We've weakened ourselves at home and in
the world. We are less secure today than before this war began.
Who now has the courage to say this?
The writer is a former Democratic senator from Colorado.
-- Otis Willie (Ret.)
Military News and Information Editor
The American War Library, Est. 1988
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