Leftists Won't Fight the 'Real War'

"Our bill calls for the redeployment of U.S. troops out of Iraq so that we can focus more fully on the real war on terror, which is in Afghanistan."

-- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, March 8 [2007]

In "Reconciliation and Resolve in Afghanistan," I discussed the heightened agitation on the radical left for a U.S. defeat in Afghanistan. As is so often the case, the left's new attention to withdrawal in Afghanistan is emblematic of the hypocrisy and unseriousness of the antiwar forces on national security. The most prominent leftist lie is that the U.S. was fighting the wrong war in Iraq, that America should focus its resources to defeating the "real" terrorists in Afghanistan. As hardliner Spencer Ackerman admitted, "For years, many progressives have argued that the real war on terrorism is in Afghanistan as a rhetorical bludgeon to argue against the Iraq war, and relatively few criticized Obama’s plans for escalation."

So now we have another example of this at the Moderate Voice, "The Futility of American Deaths in Afghanistan." The Moderate Voice basically argues that Americans are clueless on Afghanistan and its stupid to think we can win. I've already addressed the basic argument in my post cited above. So, I'm turning things over to Michael van der Galien, in "Liberals' New Obsession: Afghanistan":

I can’t help but notice that the war in Afghanistan is strangely quickly becoming the new Iraq War. Liberals said for years that US soldiers died in vain in Iraq. This war could not be won, they said. It was time (whether it was in 2003 or 2008) to withdraw ....

Then Bush did what had to be done, sent extra troops, developed a new strategy and turned things around. Suddenly anti-war activists were nowhere to be found. Barack Obama did win the elections, of course, but the anti-war crowd did not even mention Iraq once. The reason was rather obvious; things were finally going just fine and Americans knew it. They could complain, advocate immediate withdrawal, but no one would fall for it.

So they had to find a new obsession, a new reason to condemn “American imperialism” and the war on terror. A new excuse to advocate isolation and surrender to forces that wish to destroy the West.

They looked around, trying to find a good cause. They tried Venezuela but that one didn’t work. Americans don’t like socialists. Iran, then. But Americans fear Iran and there’s no war going on between Iran and the U.S. Not at this moment anyway. North Korea then? Nope. Not a good ’cause’ either.

Luckily for the left things went wrong in Afghanistan. The coalition ran into serious resistance. In fact, the Taliban seemed to make a comeback. They pushed government and forces further and further back and controlled an constantly growing area.

And so they finally found their new cause, their new obsession through which they could feed their anti-American hunger.

The troops have to be withdrawn! The war effort in Afghanistan is doomed! The Taliban is too strong! We shouldn’t ever have gone to war with this country anyway! Bush lied, people died!

The tactics the far-left uses share close resemblance to the tactics they used to discredit the war effort in Iraq. In fact, they are exactly the same, including pretending that the war was illegal or at least unnecessary.

Lest we forget, Afghanistan was attacked because the country’s government protected Al Qaeda, which attacked America on 9/11/01. The war on Afghanistan was an act of self defense, not of aggression. It was meant to destroy or at least severely weaken organizations and the government that killed thousands of innocent Americans on that black day.

The goal wasn’t to bring glorious peace, democracy and prosperity to the Afghan people but to weaken Al Qaeda and the Taliban so they couldn’t attack Americans on American soil anymore.

More at the link. Also, Memeorandum.

The quotation at top is found at Charles Krauthammer, "Which Is 'The Real War'?"