On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid suggested that Republicans who opposed efforts to force a withdrawal from Iraq don't care about protecting the troops:
"They want to protect the president more than they want to protect our troops," said Reid, a Nevada Democrat.
This is a nasty smear that directly mirrors GOP attacks on dissent since 9/11 that use the "they care more about X than fighting terrorists" framework:
September 2002: Campaigning against Democrats who did not support his legislation to create the Department of Homeland Security (a department whose creation he had previously opposed), President Bush said that "the Senate is more interested in special interests in Washington and not interested in the security of the American people."
...September 2006: During a press conference the day after the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11th, House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) said, "I wonder if they [Democrats] are more interested in protecting the terrorists than protecting the American people," adding, "They certainly do not want to take the terrorists on and defeat them." When asked if he intended to accuse Democrats of treason, Boehner replied, "I said I wonder if they're more interested in protecting the terrorists... They certainly don't want to take the terrorists on in the field."
Reid also recently stated that President Bush is "letting Osama bin Laden roam free while we keep our troops mired in an open-ended Iraqi civil war," a baseless smear suggesting that Bush is intentionally failing to capture bin Laden.
Bush did once say that he wasn't particularly concerned about bin Laden.
Posted by: Matt Weiner | September 23, 2007 at 11:33 PM
Is Reid, like Obama, advocating invading Pakistan to get Osama?
It would be interesting to see Reid flesh out his criticism with some constructive advice for Bush.
Posted by: ERF | September 30, 2007 at 07:24 PM