Recent polls show an apparent shift back toward President Bush and Republicans as people do a gut check as to which political party is going to protect them better against Islamofascist terrorists.  It's about time, if it is true, as the Democrats have offered absolutely nothing other than the hollow, "We can do better" mantra they apply to every subject, including the most serious conflict facing Western Civilization in its long and storied history.

But there are a few black sheep straying from the flock that need to be brought back in line.  Senators McCain, Graham, Warner and a handful of the usual RINO suspects, including Lincoln Chafee, whose butt was saved once again by the Republican Party he so blithely deserts on just about ever issue, are opposing the administration's desire for unity and clarity in responding to the recent Supreme Court Decision effectively granting Geneva Convention protection to captured terrorists.

It was a horrible Supreme Court decision, but the justices did leave an out if Congress would better define the rules of treatment.  The President wants an unambiguous detailing of what is permitted and what is not, so as to protect future interrogators from War Crimes liability.  It is a perfectly sane course he is following, as we deal with an enemy that has the will and the potential to cause death or grievous injury to hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Americans.  Yet, the renegade Senators, aided and abetted by Mr. Passive-Aggressive Colin Powell, want to leave the definition of degrading treatment open to interpretation.  That puts our fighting men and women, as well as CIA operatives charged with heading off terrorist attacks and dismantling al Qaeda and its lookalikes, at considerable risk. 

The Geneva Convention clearly applies to lawful combatants, which the terrorists are not.  Moreover, neither the terrorists, nor the Iranians or anyone else in the militant Muslim world, actually follow the convention.  We have all seen or heard about the horrific decapitations and mutilation of reporters, civilians and U.S. military personnel who have fallen into the hands of the terrorists.  Iran most certainly did not follow the rules of conflict when it seized the American hostages from our embassy in Tehran, and Saddam surely did not follow its precepts when Jessica Lynch and other prisoners of war were systematically abused by his regime.

McCain and his fellow travelers are weakening our ability to fight the War on Terror and protect Americans at home and abroad and should be taken to the woodshed by right-thinking Americans.  One hopes that their political careers will be destroyed by their foolishness.  Whatever their motivations, they are flat wrong.  Americans should be prepared to blame this cabal, along with the Democrats, if and when a terrorist attack does occur.

Contrary to what some may think, this is war and war is hell.  People are killed, buildings destroyed, prisoners captured.  When the other side refuses to follow even the most basic rules of warfare, they abrogate any expectation of humane treatment by our forces.  The Supreme Court decision was wrong.  The Democrats are wrong to make this a sticking point, and McCain, Powell, et. al., are wrong for blocking attempts to clarify the issue. 

If Republicans really do want to remain in power after the coming election, the mavericks had better get it through their heads that the American people first and foremost want to be protected from terrorist attacks and are willing to go a long way to ensure that planned actions are interdicted before they can be executed.  If that means summarily executing terrorists or torturing vital information out of them, then so be it.  It is only the leftists and those Republicans who stand for nothing but their own personal reelection who don't understand that. 

The whole issue of how aggressively we pursue this war and how harshly we treat the enemy, both captured and in the field ought to be the main driver in November.  Run from Bush at your own peril.  You cannot hide from the American people.  And we are MUCH smarter (and tougher) than you think.

Contributed by Shane Briscoe on September 19, 2006 at 11:41 AM in Shane Briscoe | Permalink

Comments