Text 28759, 87 rader
Skriven 2007-05-14 16:51:50 av Alan Hess
Ärende: Republican realists?
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http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.chapman14may14,0,3642698.
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From the Baltimore Sun
Past Republican leaders knew when to bow to reality



May 14, 2007

CHICAGO -- We all know that when it comes to war, Republicans are strong and
resolute, while Democrats are weak and craven. We know because Republicans tell
us so.

Those have been the constant GOP themes in the congressional debate over the
Iraq war. House Republican Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio accused Democrats who
want to require withdrawal by a certain date of proposing "a timetable for
American surrender." They were cheering for "defeat," charged Arizona Sen. John
McCain. President Bush vowed that unlike his partisan opponents, he would not
"cut and run."

During this month's Republican presidential debate at the Reagan Library,
Rudolph W. Giuliani cited the 40th president as a model of fortitude in dealing
with enemies. Among "the things that Ronald Reagan taught us," he declared, is
that "we should never retreat in the face of terrorism."

No one present was impolite enough to mention that, far from spurning retreat
in the face of terrorism, the Gipper embraced it. After the 1983 terrorist
bombing in Beirut killed 241 U.S. military personnel, he recognized the
futility of our presence in Lebanon and pulled out.

Mr. Boehner portrays himself and his colleagues as brave patriots who would
never accept anything less than victory in war. But in 1993, when things got
tough in Somalia, he voted for withdrawal. Mr. McCain likewise favored "defeat"
in that conflict. He opposed a timetable for withdrawal not because he wanted
U.S. forces to stay but because it would take too long.

At the same time, Democrats were warning of the dangers of retreat. Among them
was a senator from Massachusetts named John Kerry.

Both times, Republicans favoring withdrawal had the right idea. In neither case
was our intervention justified, and nothing at stake in Lebanon or Somalia was
worth the cost in American lives.

They also favored an outcome short of victory in the Kosovo war of 1999, when
the GOP-controlled House voted down a resolution supporting the president's air
campaign. Most House Republicans also supported a measure calling for the
withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Balkans.

Back then, House Republican Leader Tom DeLay said, "The bombing was a mistake,"
and urged President Bill Clinton to "admit it and come to some sort of
negotiated end." Can you guess the title of Mr. DeLay's new book? No Retreat,
No Surrender.

The truth is, Republican presidents are not known for staying the course in the
face of adversity. Dwight Eisenhower ran on a promise to end the Korean war,
which he did - on terms that allowed the communist aggressors to remain in
power in the North. Richard M. Nixon negotiated a peace agreement with the
North Vietnamese government, which provided for a U.S. pullout. Gerald R. Ford
presided over the fall of Saigon and the final humiliating American evacuation.

In those cases, the presidents came to grips with the unpleasant truth that
sometimes you can't achieve the desired outcome without an excessive sacrifice,
if at all. But when it comes to Iraq, Republicans insist we should be ready to
pay any price in pursuit of a victory that has eluded us for so long.

What Republicans stood for in the past was a sober realism about the limits of
our power and our good intentions. That spirit is absent today.

It's silly to say victory is the only option unless you actually have a way to
achieve it and are willing to commit the necessary resources. The
administration and its allies on Capitol Hill insist that this time, they know
what they're doing. But they said the same thing at every point along the way.

Maybe, at last, they have found the key to success. More likely, though, they
are just wasting lives and money postponing the inevitable. It's terrible to
lose a war. But as several Republican presidents could attest, it's even worse
to persist in one you can't win.

Steve Chapman is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune. His column appears
Mondays in The Sun. His e-mail is schapman@tribune.com.

Copyright + 2007, The Baltimore Sun | Get Sun home delivery

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