John Drake: “A March 2007 Los Angeles Times editorial posed the question: ``Do we really need a General Pelosi? Too many lives are at…”

“A March 2007 Los Angeles Times editorial posed the question: ``Do we really need a General Pelosi? Too many lives are at stake to allow Members of Congress to play the role of Eisenhower or Lincoln.'' How unfortunate that less than a month after the fifth and final brigade of this surge effort has arrived in Iraq we sit here once again prepared to put bad politics in front of sound policy and undercut that mission, putting the lives of our troops, our coalition partners, and millions of Iraqis at risk. Once again, the leadership of this institution wants to play general, so it chooses to circumvent the committee process to rush a hastily written piece of legislation to the House floor, one that has no chance of becoming law. And so the question that I and many Americans have is: Why? You can find the answer in today's Washington Times. According to this body's majority leader, we are here because ``if we don't do anything, these groups,'' meaning MoveOn and affiliates, ``will feel like we haven't done anything.'' So that's it. We are here to appease MoveOn.org. Where is the policy? Where is the plan? Are we to believe that this bill will bring an end to violence in Iraq? Are we to believe that our withdrawal will make our Nation or the world any safer? Thus, politics replaces policy. We are a Nation at war against Islamic terrorists who have no intention of giving up the fight. We must defend this Nation. We cannot afford to play politics.”