Just as happened last year, Hillary Clinton was lustily booed at the Take America Back conference today. Then she came in third in the straw poll behind Obama and Edwards. Hillary was booed because she blamed the Iraqi government for the situation in Iraq. We have to put this into perspective.
I don’t know who first said it, but there is a saying: “Don’t practice crap.”
It means that you shouldn’t do things shoddily, or half-ass. You should take pride in your work and follow through on projects until they are done. But, in a political context, it can mean “don’t repeat Republican talking points.”
There is a good reason why Democratic politicians like to blame the Iraqi government for the situation in Iraq. It avoids the pitfalls of blaming the generals or, god forbid, the troops. Anytime someone like Harry Reid says something obvious, like the fact that General Peter Pace has been incompetent, the right-wing starts howling like a stuck pig. And then turncoats like Joe Lieberman race to pile on. But, co-opting Republican talking points is no way to win a debate. It’s a way to concede the debate before it starts.
The problem in Iraq is a matter of tribal, ethnic, and sectarian rivalries that were predicted by the Intelligence Community. The blame lies in American politicians taking no heed of the warnings provided by unbiased experts on the Middle East. The problems were compounded by policies and strategies that failed to deal with reality. Iraq is a screwed up country. That is why we should have left it alone and never, ever, ever put ourselves in the position of taking responsibility for maintaining order there.
Hillary Clinton is one of those politicians that didn’t listen. And now she wants to shift the blame onto the Iraqis. Progressives know better. They saw Ms. Clinton practicing crap and they called her on it.
The blame for Iraq lies with each and every politician that voted to give the president the authority to invade Iraq.
