Changing

This is from CNN:

Warning that other global threats "cannot be ignored," Rep. John Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, a leading adviser on defense issues, called Thursday for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq."
U.S. and coalition troops have done all they can in Iraq," the senior lawmaker said. "It's time for a change in direction."
He said he believes all the forces could be redeployed over a six-month period.
Murtha, a former Marine Corps colonel and veteran of the Vietnam war, is the first senior lawmaker to call for an immediate withdrawal.

- snip -

Rep. Duncan Hunter, a Republican from California and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, described calls for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq "a mistake," arguing that leaving Iraq would make it appear that America cannot sustain prolonged military operations."
I just wanted to remind our friends that now is the time for endurance," Hunter said. "Right now, in Iraq, we are changing the world. ... We're changing a very strategic part of the world in such a way that it will not be a threat to the United States and, in fact, will be an ally in the global war against terror."

- snip -

"I resent the fact that on Veterans Day, they criticized Democrats for criticizing them," Murtha said. "This [the war] is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion. The American public knows it, and lashing out at critics doesn't help a bit. You've got to change the policy. That's what's going to help the American people. You need to change direction."

***

Yes, the times, they are a-changin.'

Rep. Murtha is one of the major defense heavyweights on the Democrat side of the aisle, and brings a forceful argument. I'd love to watch the False Republicans try to swiftboat this guy, because the backlash will hurt them.

But when you think about it, Hunter's right. We are changing the world.

For the worse.

America has gone from being respected by most of the world to being feared by most of the world, and the remainder loathe us. A change from respected to feared, while not exactly positive, is certainly change.

Let's see, what other things have changed, thanks to Operation Vicarious Manhood?

a) Iraq is now a training center for terrorists. We used to worry about training camps in Libya, then Bosnia, then Afghanistan - but Iraq is the only training center that gives you on-the-job training. And somewhere the leaders of these groups lie awake at night giggling, thanking Allah for the hamfisted tactics of George W. Bush.

b) We're close to destroying our own military by shortchanging them on logistics, rotating them back into the theater again and again and again, using Reserve and Guard troops with little regard to the economic and social disruptions it causes, cutting the benefits that wounded troops and veterans need to recover from their physical and mental injuries.

c) Americans now live under laws that allow the government to spy on them and to lock them up with no charges, access to lawyers or even a trial.

So Rep. Hunter is right. The world has changed. America's getting closer to a police state, the rest of the planet either fears or hates us, and there's a lot more terrorists than there were on September 11th (how's THAT for "post-9/11 thinking?")

So maybe it's time to try out Rep. Murtha's idea. Change the direction.