Rep. Duncan Hunter Takes Reid To Task

Rep. Duncan Hunter takes Reid to task.
While they wrangle over the terms of their surrender legislation, the Democrat leadership has sent the worst of messages to the world. Speaker Pelosi struck the first wedge into what should be a united American foreign policy on Iraq by introducing a defense bill, which would effectively move the position of Commander in Chief to the U.S. Congress. Along with timetables for withdrawal from Iraq, the Pelosi bill, on page 72, mandates a 15 day waiting period before an American unit can be moved into the Iraq war theater. This incredibly obstructive provision would have profound negative effects on our forces’ abilities to fight. For example, should US hostages be taken and a Delta Force team moved from outside the theater to attempt a rescue, Pelosi’s provision would require a fifteen-day waiting period and a report to Congress before the rescue could be attempted. Should a Zarqawi level target be located and U.S. fighter aircraft be deployed from outside Iraq, the same fifteen days would elapse before a strike could be executed. The very nature of the “notice and wait” requirement illustrates how unfamiliar Democrats are with the war against terrorists. This is a new era involving rapid movement of specialized personnel and equipment across theater boundaries. “Notice and wait for two weeks” reflects an ultimate misunderstanding of U.S. military operations.
Democrats, in defending the Pelosi requirement, state that their concern is readiness of our military forces and that the President’s certification of ”full mission capability” and Congress’ fifteen day review of said certification is simply assertion of normal congressional oversight responsibilities.
This position should be rejected for several reasons. First, such micro management can never work in a congress, which takes weeks to tee up a hearing.
Second, readiness levels are a complicated thing, often unreflective of real military capability.
For example, if an infantry company does not have its flu shots, it will be rated as “unready.” In the world of speaker Pelosi, this may justify non-deployment, but to a soldier engaged in combat and awaiting reinforcements, the message that the speaker is worried that the re-enforcements will catch the flu and will have to “stay home from school” until they get their shots is hardly inspiring.
All this reflects the wisdom of the Constitution’s reserving Commander in Chief responsibilities for the single leader elected by the entire nation. Even the Washington Post noted the obvious intrusion of the Pelosi bill on the President’s powers.
Senate leader Reid quickly followed Speaker Pelosi with his own mis-guided “missile,” in announcing that the U.S. had “lost” the war in Iraq. Just as Speaker Pelosi had surprised the Israelis by becoming their ambassador to Syria without portfolio, Senator Reid’s comments must have been a surprise to some.
Consider, for example what effect they might have on an Al-Qaeda leader in Anbar Province. As he sits in his safe house outside Fallujah, the bad news has been coming in. His assassinations of Sunni Tribal leaders have turned the region against him. Sunnis are joining the Iraqi Army in Anbar Province in unprecedented numbers.
The Sunni led national police force is working with the Shiite led Army and the U.S. Marine Corps to push back against Al-Qaeda. The terrorist leader is interrupted from his “bad news” briefings by ecstatic aides. “Senator Reid has surrendered,” they shriek. “He says the U.S. has lost the war.” The Al-Qaeda leader asks the aides if they are joking, and, assured they are not, turns to the task of redoubling his efforts. This statement can only have the effect of encouraging the enemy in Iraq.