Maverick Joe Lieberman sets partisanship aside to root for the troops and the country

As a sober wife shudders to watch her husband drunk at a party, so must Dems like Joe Lieberman view their fellow party members in the drunken stuper of Bush bashing. In an atmosphere thick with political rhetoric, Lieberman writes a piece in the Wall Street Journal for the troops and for the country. It is not a piece to bash Bush, nor to suck up to him either. It appropriately sets aside the pre-war attacks and focuses on the victory I have written our military deserves and the Iraqi people need.

Where over a week ago we had Murtha and Pelosi cooking up a public scene by demanding to withdraw, now we have a level headed Senator not afraid to write the words he knows will shine a light on how foolish the withdrawal talk is. Lieberman talking about his fourth trip and the progress shown claims:

"Progress is visible and practical. In the Kurdish North, there is continuing security and growing prosperity. The primarily Shiite South remains largely free of terrorism, receives much more electric power and other public services than it did under Saddam, and is experiencing greater economic activity."

There is even some progress in the Sunni triangle. Lieberman goes on to describe the clear signs of economic progress and the new political activity in the budding democracy. He then goes on to show the need for continued military presence to help the 27 million freedom seekers defend against the 10,000 terrorists. Giving credit to the Iraqi progress Lieberman also warns of the consequences of caving to the political pressure (manufactured by disinformation) stating:

"None of these remarkable changes would have happened without the coalition forces led by the U.S. And, I am convinced, almost all of the progress in Iraq and throughout the Middle East will be lost if those forces are withdrawn faster than the Iraqi military is capable of securing the country."

He goes on describing the progress and warnings of the consequences of an early pullout. He heaps deserving praise on our forces efforts and sacrifices. The entire piece is a must read as it is a non-partisan, non-rhetorical, clear layout of the Iraqi advancements and future success story. One point that can't be left out is the following:

"Here is an ironic finding I brought back from Iraq. While U.S. public opinion polls show serious declines in support for the war and increasing pessimism about how it will end, polls conducted by Iraqis for Iraqi universities show increasing optimism. Two-thirds say they are better off than they were under Saddam, and a resounding 82% are confident their lives in Iraq will be better a year from now than they are today."

So the bottom line is Lieberman has been there four times, the Iraqis ARE there and the most American media desparaging Iraq have NOT been there or at least not lately. I have not read too many reports from those coming back from Iraq that cast the fatalistic picture we hear day in and day out from the partisan hacks. Yet they continue to spew doom and gloom as fact for the ignorant masses to lap up. They have shorted Iraq and some day soon their margin is going to be called.

In my title I called Lieberman "Maverick", the undeserved title often given to John McCain when he panders to the left. This piece is obviously from the heart and far from pandering to the right. Knowing the flack Lieberman will receive from liberals, he deserves the title. Kudos Joe.