Why do Democrats say winning the war in Iraq is "a real big problem for us."?

Question

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said that a strongly positive report by Gen. Petraeus would be "a real big problem for us."
How is that a "problem"?
Why do Democrats feel they can openly admit they want to lose the war, and why do they place their party above our country?

This is treasonous.

WASHINGTON POST-
Many Democrats have anticipated that, at best, Petraeus and U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker would present a mixed analysis of the success of the current troop surge strategy, given continued violence in Baghdad. But of late there have been signs that the commander of U.S. forces might be preparing something more generally positive. Clyburn said that would be "a real big problem for us."

Answer 1

Anything bad that happens to our military,our country,or our Pres.,liberals think that is good news for them.Libs are openly cheering for defeat in Iraq,our economy to suck,and Bush to fail at everything!Thats the only way libs think can win the White House.......because libs have no new ideas......just the same old socialist big government to run your life.

Answer 2

Come into the reality of the present. The Republicans are saying the same thing. Here's why: No matter when or how we leave Iraq, there will be chaos. This is a religious civil war. The issue is who supports the "correct" or legitimate heir to Mohammad. This argument, and the violence resulting from it, is now more than 1300 years old. This is the issue between the Sunni and Shiite factions. Why do you think they are blowing up each other mosques? It is further complicated by support from the Saudis for one sect and Iran for the other, thereby splitting the Mideast. The only solution to this chaos is a permanent presence in Iraq, that's why a strongly positive report is a problem. The Democrats and now Republicans who say we should immediately withdraw are naive. An immediate withdrawal will take about 2 years. One thing Obama said which I agree with is that while the Iraqi parliament is on vacation because it's too hot in Baghdad, our soldiers are patrolling while carrying 100 lbs. of gear. I have to emphasize to you that almost no one except McCain supports this war. Even the President admits the invasion was based on bad intelligence. When you throw around the word "treasonous", you are accusing roughly 70+ % of the American citizens, the majority of the Congress on both sides and many prominent military leaders who have been in Iraq. How do we "win" this war? Didn't we win when we deposed Saddam and destroyed the weapons he had? What is victory? If it's a stable, peaceful Iraq--how do you calm the religious hatred? How do you overcome 1300 years of religious strife. Google Shiite and Sunni and see what the real problem is. We've already won this war. Now should we move on to Northern Ireland? It's the same issue, just with Christians.

Answer 3

The reason that we find ourselves in such a lousy predicament today is that this question was not answered before we started the current war. In fact, we definitively won the military aspect of the conventional war, but Bush and company did not have enough prescience to foresee the aftermath and be prepared for that. I'm glad you did not ask 'how to' do this but only asked for a definition because I am not sure how or if the desired result can be effected at this time. Winning would be driving out of the country all those who will not contribute to a peaceful functioning government that will be self sustaining. It is that simple to define; it is virtually impossible to achieve given all the outside intervention and support from neighboring countries that the rebelling factions receive and as you pointed out the historical internecine problems of the populace. If we could afford to put 2-3 million men in arms there for 10 years we could accomplish it but we can't afford that option. If we had put 1/2 million (Colin Powell's number and mine) there initially we likely could have accomplished it, but it is far too late now.

Answer 4

Why do Republicans feel they can't openly admit that we are losing this war, and why do they place their party above the safety and comfort of our soldiers?

Democrats don't want to lose the war. But ever since Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech, there has been little evidence that we are going to "Win" the war.

If Gen. Petraeus has positive news, sure it might mean that the Democrats won't win as many seats next year. And it's possible they might not win the presidency.

But it also might mean that Gen. Petraeus is claiming victory where there is none, and jeopardizing our soldiers lives in order to make the Republicans look good.

Answer 5

It appears that the democrats are doing a complete 180 and backing off their pull out immediately campaign. It's probable that some of the few adults in the democrat party, such as Joe Liebermann, may have gotten with the media and told them to stop giving so much attention to the childish rants of Pelosi, Reid and Kennedy, because it's becoming obvious that the American people aren't buying their defeatist diatribes. It's a little early to get excited about there possibly being some actual intelligence coming from the left, but the remarks by some of the demodrats over the weekend could be encouraging. It looks like the party may be having second thoughts about letting the Speakerette and Harry Reid embarass themselves and the democrats any further. Their short careers may soon be over if the left wants to have a chance of regaining the White House.

Answer 6

Because it would show them to have been weak, and wrong, about national security and international relations yet again.

They were wrong about Reagan's policies towards the Soviet Union also.

It would reinforce the belief that many Americans have - they don't trust the Democrats to be serious about protecting America and its interests.

PS There have been times when some Democrats "didn't want us to win," by their own admission:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Anq16hwWMHWVUsn.LjyxeUjty6IX?qid=20070717090406AAcNyIT

Answer 7

You can't win any war without having a strategy for exit. So in essence, this war was lost from the begining, much like Vietnam. Ironically enough, the American people were lied to before both wars.

Wars such as these are not meant to be won, but sustained. Many neo-conservative and neo-liberal strategists make these types of wars possible. They believe that the only way a society can sustain itself is by having a common enemy to unite against.

Answer 8

Oh that is easy.
Any kind of success that happens under the current administration whether it be political, financial or militarily is like dropping an atom bomb on the DNC headquarters.
When failures are reported in Iraq, the libs spout off, "see, see, I told you so". But when we have successes in Iraq, which we've been having all along, they just aren't reported as much as the failures, but as of recent reports show, we've had many more lately, the libs have egg on their face.
However, give it some time. As more and more good comes from Iraq, you will see Hillary begin to support our efforts over there again, Kennedy will be effectively "shut up" and Reid, Murtha and Pelosi will be spinning their wheels like never before.

Answer 9

First of all, the situation in Iraq is virtually unwinnable. To win it, you'd have to go in and reduce the place to total rubble, destroy all the infrastructure, bomb to dust all the "mosques", which are nothing but storage points for weapons and meeting places for guerillas, and kill off millions of the population and bomb the rest out of their homes. Since Bush has this false idea that he is somehow the Savior of the World, this will never happen. He thinks the Iraqi people would run to him with open arms when, in fact, they'd rather shoot him, so any phony report by a general saying how wonderful everything is just gives Bush the ammunition to keep up his Quixotic campaign. A positive report is not just a big problem for the Democrats, who have a problem as it is because they have no clue either, but it is also a big problem for the rest of us, because this means Bush will be encouraged to keep on keeping on and will keep doing the same things that don't work until hell freezes over.

Answer 10

The Democratic majority was elected to get us out. If the report is good it means that their policies are wrong and the Bush admin is right. Americans might begin to support the war again and Democrats would be in trouble in the next election.