War without end, amen.

War without end, amen.

Fabius Maximus, in a post entitled How long will all American Presidents be war Presidents, directs readers to an Obama speech about national security, noting that Obama plans to remove troops from Iraq and position them in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Obama's plan means that

The Long War continues

without debate among our senior statesmen.

Without considering alternatives other than force.

Without a stated destination or goals, other than pacification of Islam — purging it of elements we find objectionable.

Without balancing of its costs vs. its benefits.

Without regard for the damage a sustained high tempo does to our Army and Marines.

Without analysis of the structural reasons we have had such little success in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars.

War without end, without thought. This is the inheritance the boomers bequeath to our children.

Turkana's opening salvo, posted at The Left Coaster, repeats a charge against Democratic leadership that is typically made by Republicans:

The Democratic House "leadership" is soft on terror.

In justifying this "Soft" charge, Turkana notes:

The Bush Administration openly and unapologetically flouts international strictures against torture, and the Democratic Congress does nothing.

The Bush Administration lied the country into a war that didn't need to be fought, and that has devastated both an innocent people and the U.S. military, and the Democratic Congress does nothing.

The Bush Administration has systematically undermined American national security, and the Democratic Congress does nothing.

In 2005, they were so focused on winning the 2006 elections that they took impeachment off the table.

In 2007 and 2008, they've been so focused on winning the 2008 elections that they're taking ending the war off the table.

The Democratic House "leadership" is so focused on winning the government that they're refusing to govern.

...

They're not resigned that they "can't" stop the war while Bush is still in power, they're unwilling to make any effort to stop it. Even after Bush is out of power. And by the middle of next year, they'll be worrying about the 2010 elections. They're so worried about looking soft that they're proving how soft they really are.

Posted by Mark Ganzer at 2:35 PM