Why Republicans want to leave Iraq

It’s simple: while the GOP and the Bush administration got America into the war it’s clear even to them that we cannot stay there forever. Now that Dems have taken over the Congress, the GOP can get the Dems to do their dirty work for them, ie., leaving Iraq.

This appeals to the GOP in several ways. We leave Iraq, which is costing money and lives. As importantly in their political calculus, the meme of a strong pro-war GOP and pacifist, defeatist Dems is reinforced. This is not a case of Dems clearing up the GOP mess, but a victory for the GOP. And the next time, the next election, these memes can be redeployed to the American public.

I bet the GOP is loving this bill considering whether to pull out from Iraq for a number of reasons; they can vote against it, speak out against it and pin it on those naive political saps, the Dems. If it passes, then great, also. If Bush has to veto it, it just spins out this whole dance even longer until the next president, in which case, repeat again (if it’s a Dem president even better as he/she will have to sign the bill).

All the bloggers who fail to see this and support the bill (including myself) are also saps because we’re playing into the Repub game plan. The whole issue needs to be reframed in this light.