Why do Republicans say that Liberals and Democrats want to lose the War in Iraq?

Question

I'm a conservative. I'm not a Republican or Democrat, but when guys like Rush Limbaugh say that liberals want to lose the War in Iraq it is just absurd. You have to be a crazy person to believe that any American is rooting for a higher death toll to give us a better reason to pull out. How do guys like Rush and Bill O'Reilly get away with saying stuff like that?

I am an Iraq War Veteran and I think we should pull out ASAP. I'm not a coward. I don't call it Cut and Run.

I think a man is a greater coward if he doesn't know when to say he was wrong.

Answer 1

Thank you for posting this.

People on T.V. or the radio, like Limbaugh or Hannity say stuff like that, they are simply doing it for entertainment purposes. They attract attention this way, which in turn attracts more listeners/viewers. All pundits do this, no matter how much they deny it.

As far as what they say, they simply have no idea. No one voted for President Bush because "he'd be a great military leader". They need to give the Democrats a chance. There's no evidence saying that one party is better in warfare than another.

Who says that,if a Republican wins the next Presidential election, he'll do any good at handling Iraq? Bush does a lousy job, and the next guy could be worse. Or he cold be better. Just like the Democrats could be better.

All of the criticism about Democrats doing a bad job with Iraq is pure speculation, and is completely unfounded.

Answer 2

They don't -- not outright, that is. The modern politician speaks through a variety of half-truths, ambivalences, and fluff through which one may (though it is unlikely) find substance should one make the effort to penetrate it all. Much of the bad one hears about Iraq is one, the other, or all three of those -- though in a contest, half-truths would win hands down in this case. And if you really pay attention, they don't want to lose the war -- but they don't really want to win, either. See, to a politician, a war is little more than a cause for political advancement; the morals, causes, and effects are just so many cumbersome details to work through. If President Bush were to announce an immediate withdrawal to be completed by this time next week, people would be up in arms -- in the case of the liberal politicians, for all the wrong reasons. Bush-bashing has become an excellent tool for garnering political support among the louder, more extreme left-wing; the Iraq war is, as demonstrated so aptly by our national media, their primary source of ammunition. Remove that from the equation, and we suddenly find ourselves dealing with such petty squabbles as the commutation of a sentence or the firing of several attorneys -- on none of which one can base a political platform. Assuming a Democrat of the presently-running ilk is elected to the Presidency, you can rest assured that the Iraq war won't end for a good long time because it will still be politically expedient to blame everything on George Bush for several years after he's gone. Not only will this advance the new President's political standing (but only among the extreme groups to whom he or she is currently pandering), but it will also absolve him or her of any responsibility for any disasters which take place during the new Presidential term. It's all in a nice, pretty little box, isn't it?

Answer 3

The Right Wing Authoritarian Gang Of Pirates, are that and not Conservatives either. Quite aside from the sort of reasons for going in, the goal of some sort of pro American would have had to be carefully planned long before the first tank went over the border.

This was what happened in WW2 that they leave out. But rather than having a careful plan, everything was magical thinking that all would just happen for the best without any planning at all. So in result they made the stupidest moves possible time after time.

Now when all is worse than lost, suddenly it is anyone who notices that all is FUBAR, who has magically caused the problems because they weren't wishing earnestly enough???
That story was lame in Peter Pan.

Answer 4

Because republicans got us into it. The only good thing about R limbaugh and O'Reilly is that you can change the station or turn it off! Nobody said you have to listen, but they do have the right to express an opinion, be it their own or of others that pay the bills. PS: I do not believe any True American wants more loss of life on either side!

Answer 5

People should treat Mr. Limbaugh as a clown; someone who's act is meant to amuse.

Mr. Limbaugh does not actually mean what he says; for example, he had a real tough stand on drugs, yet it was revealed that he had been an addict for a while.

Seriously, does he have even a shred of credibility anymore?

Both Limbaugh and O'Reilly are entertainers. If they are called to the mat on what they say, their attorneys rebut the charges of slander with satire; an affirmative defense to slander.

Thus, take what they say with a grain of salt.

Obviously, no one wants to increase casualties of lose the war. However, putting billions of dollars and sending 21,500 more troops into this catastrophe is certainly not a wise plan of action for ending a civil war between religiously and ethnicly different factions. Where does it stop?

Answer 6

First you have to understand that guys like Rush absolutely count on the fact that the largest percentage of their viewers buy their line of crap without ever checking to see if he is accurate ( read source listed below ). From the president to Rush there is a dangerous movement in America which would give all authority to a megalomanical idiot like Bush. Oh, and before you take too much pride in the label conservative, you need to read your history. If conservatives had their way, the automobile would have been quashed as a loud, smelly, and offensive piece of equipment that needed to be outlawed as it was so frightening to horses ( the most used transportation of the time ).

Answer 7

Probably because EVERY rationale for the Iraq War has gone under: No WMDs, no Saddam-9/11 or bin Laden or Al-Qaeda link, no threat to the U.S. from Iraq. We were told we would be greeted as liberators, and that the war would ultimately pay for itself. This war has gotten out of control, multitudes of mistakes were made in planning and executing our "strategies", the Sunni and Shia are in the beginning stages of a civl war (If not already in one.) and our troops are caught in the middle. As every day goes by we spend billions more, more and more of our troops are dying or getting limbs blown off, and victory seems less and less of a possibility. We only have one rationale as to why haven't left yet, because of the chance that the chaos could get even worse. (How can it get worse than this?) O'Reilly and Rush can no longer sanely defend the war.

At this point, the war is practically indefensible, the ONLY thing far-right Republicans can do is make baseless attacks on those who oppose the war. It's all they have left, short of you know, admitting being wrong on their stance. People like Limbaugh can get away with it because those who can't admit being wrong (Rush's audience.) need a strawman, something to focus the blame away from themselves.. ("Well, i can't be wrong, it's those damn America-hating liberals. Yea they want the troops dead and want the U.S. to lose!)

Answer 8

I think for people like Rush and O'Reilly, they might not necessarily believe half the things they say-but vulnerable, angry, or ignorant people will react to outrageous and inflammatory claims, like saying that liberals and democrats would actually want their own people to die. Strong reactions create listeners, and listeners create high ratings. Rush, O'Reilly, Hannity, and Coulter are not journalists, they make no attempt to investigate the claims they make. They don't care about being fair or finding out the truth. They just want to shock and get ratings. I think a few of these conservatives actually believe some of the things they say, but I think the almighty dollar is what they love the most.

I don't know why, but even though liberals and democrats can make very sarcastic comments, they don't seem to stoop to such childish tactics as saying things like: "anti-choice men hate women and want them all to die". Maybe they'll have to fight fire with fire to be heard, but I hope they don't stoop to enraging angry ignorant people with exaggerations and lies.

Answer 9

They have freedom of speech. The thing is, as broadcasters, as long as they have an audience they will keep it up. If people stop listening they will be off the air because the networks, and stations need audience to make money from their advertisers.

The two you mention are good at spewing hate and if one truly thinks, as you have, about what they say one will realize how absurd they are. There is no law against being absurd.

So, now that you have figured out what those two and Hannity are all about just stop listening and they may go away.

Answer 10

The United States has already lost the war. Now Bush and his people are trying to figure out a way to save face.

You're right. Lyndon Johnson had the honesty to admit he was wrong about Vietnam, but Bush and Co. do not have the courage to do the same about Iraq.