Nobody Expects The Spanish Inquisition

It's an old political trope that conservatives look for converts, liberals look for heretics. Like any cliche, it almost certainly has a ring of truth to it.

Along those lines, I'm glad that Pete Domenici has decided that maybe our plan to just keep sending our boys and girls over to Iraq to blow up summa them brown people might not be the optimal foreign policy. But I'm entirely unsatisfied with his reasoning for doing so:

Speaking to reporters on a conference call from Albuquerque, Mr. Domenici said his change of heart came after conversations with the families of New Mexico soldiers killed in Iraq who asked him to do more to save those still serving there.

“I heard nothing like that a couple of years ago,” he said. “I think that’s the result of this war dragging on almost indefinitely.”

Once again, this is a terrible example of our fetishistic worship of the troops and their families. Again, I am amazed at the patriotism and bravery of our troops, and their willingness to put their lives on the line to help keep me safe. I don't know if I am man enough to volunteer for that sort of duty. But their courage does not make them foreign policy experts, nor does it do so for their families, in the horrific circumstance of the soldier's death.

Part of being in government, I imagine the hardest part, is making that decision to send American troops into harm's way. The responsibility a Senator or the President assumes, then, is to really be able to see, objectively, whether doing so is in America's best interests or not. If it is, then whether or not the objective is popular, it should be done. And if not, then I don't care if every soldier in the Army wants to go on the mission, it's the leader's job to say 'no.'

For years, the Republicans, including Domenici, have been telling us that Iraq is the central front in the war on terror. It is absolutely vital that we stay, and win, and failure to put the entirety of our confidence and faith in the mission is tantamount to giving Osama Bin Laden the keys to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Now, Domenici tells us that he's ready to change the mission because some people aren't happy about the rate of progress.

Either Domenici has been lying to us for five years, or he is a craven fool who invites the destruction of our Republic. Which is it, Senator?