James Klurfeld has an interesting bit in Newsday in which he argues that opposition to Iraqi reconstruction will harm the Democrats politically.
I’d like to believe him on this, but I’m not so sure.
It’s easier for Americans to understand the needs for the war than for the reconstruction. After September 11, it is clear that it is not wise to tolerate a threat than can quickly grow into a nightmare if left unchecked. However, even Bush campaigned against nation-building in 2000. The American people need to have the President explain the necessity of supporting reconstruction.
In 1961 President Kennedy told the American people that we would “pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.”
We need to hear that message again, and despite President Bush’s efforts at bypassing the negative and biased media, his message needs to be made as clearly as his call to rebuild America after September 11.
He needs to point out that JFK’s own brother is now violating that mission by opposing Iraqi reconstruction. The Democrats message is that we will pay no price, shirk our burdens, escape any hardship, abandon our friends, and embolden our enemies and say to hell with the survival and success of liberty.
It’s an unconsciable position, an act of cowardice and moral blindness that would put 20 million into chaos and ensure decades of violence and terrorism that would soon reach our shores.
However, the President needs to make that clear. He needs to take the moral high ground, or he cannot count on the Democrats shameful actions being exposed for what they are. Now is not the time to go wobbly on the homefront, and the President is not doing what he must to support the reconstruction and liberation of Iraq.
