Matt Gunterman March 21st, 2007

Monday, as the nation marked the beginning of the fifth year of war in Iraq, Senator Mitch McConnell reiterated a point he’s been making for a while now: that if our nation’s occupation of Iraq fails, it’s not the fault of Pres. George W. Bush and his enabler-in-chief Sen. Mitch McConnell, it’s the fault of the Iraqi people who are just unable to govern themselves.

“This is the last chance for the Iraqis,” McConnell said, “The last chance for them to step up and demonstrate that they can do their part to save their country.”

Now, when Pres. Bush came to Louisville earlier this month for a fundraiser that netted Sen. McConnell’s campaign coffers $2.1 million, Bush made it a point to say, and I quote, “Mitch understands what I know.”

As I was searching through Sen. McConnell’s rhetoric on the war for the last couple of years, I came across the transcript of an interview of McConnell by Neil Cavuto on Fox News on January 29 of this year.

I’m not fan of Fox News, but I have to hand it to Cavuto, he stumped McConnell with what proved to be (but should not have been) a hard-hitting question:

[...]
MCCONNELL: Well, I think I can speak for a majority of Republican senators, that this is the last shot for the Iraqis. This is their last chance to step up and do what they need to do to make this effort to secure the capital city successfully.

CAVUTO: OK, and if they don’t?

MCCONNELL: I don’t there they — I think there will be…

CAVUTO: And if they don’t? If they don’t?

MCCONNELL: I don’t think there — I — I’m not going to discuss the possibilities of failure. But I want them to know that this is their last chance. And that comes from one of the president’s strongest supporters on the war.

CAVUTO: Let me ask you this. It’s not as if, I’m sure, they are not trying. They — they don’t welcome the bloodshed of their own people any more than probably you or I do, Senator.

So, if they are simply incapable of doing that, is the message you have for them: Sorry, we`re out of here?

MCCONNELL: Well, look, I — I don’t want to speculate about what will happen if the effort to secure Baghdad doesn`t work.

But I will say this. This is their last chance. This needs to be successful over the next six to nine months. And, if not, we’re going to have to go in a different direction.
[...]

Ouch.

There you have it: Mitch doesn’t understand what will happen if the Iraqis fail to stabilize their country, so therefore the President must not know, either: He understands what I know.

Cavuto called Sen. McConnell’s bluff. He probably didn’t mean to because it’s such an obvious question to ask. Cavuto thought that McConnell surely had an answer prepared for that one.

So, what happens, in McConnell’s mind, if the Iraqis don’t step up to the plate?

Well, nothing, of course. George W. Bush is going to keep our troops dying in Iraq until he makes some lemonade out of this $500-billion lemon.

After all, what are the lives of a few hundred, or few thousand, more young American men and women when the legacy of Pres. Bush — and likely Sen. McConnell — are on the line?

It’s pretty irresponsible not to speculate about what happens if the Iraqis aren’t ready for a handover because lives are at stake.

• George W. Bush , Iraq War , Mitch McConnell
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