Dropping the ball and not a bomb

Back in January of this year, Karl Rove the Dark Prince of American politics (a.k.a. Bush's brain) set out the Republican campaign theme for the 2006 mid-term elections. He said, "At the core, we are dealing with two parties that have fundamentally different views on national security," Rove said. "Republicans have a post-9/11 worldview and many Democrats have a pre-9/11 worldview. That doesn't make them unpatriotic -- not at all. But it does make them wrong -- deeply and profoundly and consistently wrong."

President Bush, Vice-president Cheney, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and just about everyone else in the Bush White House and the Republican Congress have parroted this mantra. Pre-9/11 versus post-9/11 thinking. I guess the idea is that the pre-9/11 worldview is a lot of subpoenas and judges and due process and indictments and handcuffs and defense lawyers and legal memos and meetings and risk avoidance and cultural sensitivity and maybe even group hugs and singing Kumbaya my Lord by the fire while roasting marshmellows. That would be how the tough guys like Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove, oh the list goes on and on, of chickenhawk Republicans who have never served in combat describe Democrats. Democrats, they would argue wouldn't "take the shot" when the have the chance. They would freeze up, send the decision through layers of lawyers and rule to avoid risk of harming poor street waifs who happen to be in the area or maybe fear damaging not just a mosque but maybe a single page from a single Koran. After failing to "take out the enemy" those pre-9/11 Democrats would likely go back to sipping lattes and reading Le Monde. Ah, but there is one problem with this. It's the Republicans who have the pre-9/11 mindset.

Exhibit A:


U.S. military officials confirmed to NBC News they had “high-level” Taliban fighters in their gunsights during a July reconnaissance flight but decided not to fire. The decision to pass on the target angered some in the military. Army intelligence officers say the grainy black-and-white aerial photo (seen at right) taken by an armed Predator drone shows 190 suspected Taliban militants standing in several rows near a vehicle in an open field in Afghanistan. The military said Wednesday that the group seen in the Predator image was likely gathered for a religious ceremony. Intelligence officers monitoring the footage captured by the armed, unmanned aircraft told NBC News they were prepared to fire but were prevented from doing so by military rules of engagement that prohibit waging war in a cemetery. Such rules are in place in an effort to minimize collateral damage, the killing of innocent civilians or destruction of sensitive targets, such as religious sites. “During the observation of the group over a significant period of time, it was determined that the group was located on the grounds of a cemetery and were likely conducting a funeral for Taliban insurgents killed in a coalition operation nearby earlier in the day,” a coalition spokesperson said. “A decision was made not to strike this group of insurgents at that specific location and time.” U.S. military officials in Afghanistan had positively identified those gathered as Taliban fighters, including some “high-level Taliban leaders.

The decision not to fire angered some military officials who said the U.S. passed up an opportunity to strike a valuable target. "That was frustrating, those individuals lived to fight another day,” Lt. Col. David Morrison of U.S. Army Intelligence told NBC News. They “potentially could cause harm to our soldiers, civilians, the population and the government of Afghanistan.” Defense Department officials have said repeatedly that while they try to be mindful of religious and cultural sensitivities.

So after all the speeches and spin and propaganda it's the Republicans who had their finger on the trigger to take out 190 Taliban fighters including high-value targets and kicked the decision up to a bunch of lawyers who dropped the ball and not a bomb. And why wasn't the green light given to kill men with black hearts? So as not to disturb a funeral for a terrorist. Good thing the Democrats weren't in charge. Maybe those vicious Taliban terrorists who protected al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden before and after 9/11 might have gotten away to fight another day and kill American troops and Afghan civilians. Good thing the guys with the "post-9/11" mindset are behind the wheel. I feel so much safer.

P.S. On Tuesday, a Taliban suicide bomber attacked the funeral of provincial Gov. Abdul Hakim Taniwal, killing six and wounding 25. Most of the victims were civilians, according to the U.S. military.