According to this Pi-Press article, it's safe to say that Norm Coleman spoke about the reality in Iraq while Al Franken pleaded with Sen. Coleman to vote to unilaterally declare defeat bring the troops home. It's pretty obvious that Norm Coleman can look at reality and make decisions independent of pre-conceived notions while it's painfully obvious that Mssrs. Ciresi and Franken are too tied to their Nutroots ideology that they're incapable of leading.
Minnesota's Republican U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman said Thursday the United States will have a long-term presence in Iraq but may see a change of mission.Norm Coleman's position on specific parts of the Iraq war haven't been easy to decipher but he's always been in the pro-victory camp. That's the mark of a leader. He's perfectly willing to take a temporary political hit to get the policy right. That's another mark of a leader. Compare Coleman's leadership with this:"We are going to be in Iraq a long time. I am not supporting dates, specific dates, timetables for withdrawal," he said. "When my colleagues on the other side of the aisle talk about redeployment, they are talking about getting out of Iraq. I'm not. And simply because that's the reality."
Those who say U.S. troops must be out of Iraq by September are "missing reality," he said.
On Wednesday, his most high-profile opponents, Democrats Al Franken and Mike Ciresi, strongly criticized Coleman's Iraq stance.TRANSLATION: I'm pro-defeat."I urge you to change your position and support our troops by voting to bring them home," Franken wrote in a letter to Coleman.
"I ask Norm Coleman to tell Minnesotans his vision for finding a common-sense solution to the civil war in Iraq," Ciresi said in a statement.TRANSLATION: I'm as pro-defeat as my primary opponent is.
Both Ciresi and Franken are joined at the hip to the Nutroots crowd. That isn't to say that they aren't true believers. Franken clearly is a true Nutroots believer. That's why they aren't qualified to be Minnesota's next senator. They'd vote for their MoveOn.org contributors. I'd find it difficult, if not impossible, to believe that they'd vote Central Minnesota's interests.
Frankly, I'm not certain that Mssrs. Franken and Ciresi would know what St. Cloud values are.
"Time will prove me right. I'm up for election in '08. If I'm wrong, folks, they'll have a chance to articulate that but I'm fairly confident, as I kind of look at the lay of the land, that we will have a change of mission, we will have significant drawdown but we're doing it without telling the enemy this is when we are getting out of here, without cutting off any funds, any support for the troops," Coleman said.I've had the opportunity recently to have several email exchanges with Sen. Coleman. I'd be lying if I said that I've always agreed with him but I'd be a bigger liar if I said that I didn't find him to be a thoughtful legislator who wanted to get the biggest policies right. Sometimes that willingness to not jump to certain decisions has been seen as a sign of wobbliness. Frankly, I've wondered that from time to time.
Once you get past the nuances and details, though, it's obvious that Sen. Coleman is a serious pro-victory legislator. I don't want to overlook something else that Sen. Coleman said:
"...as I kind of look at the lay of the land, that we will have a change of mission, we will have significant drawdown."I see a drawdown happening, too, because I've read too many articles talking about significant progress being made. When you consider the dramatic improvement seen in Ramadi, it's impossible for thoughtful people to conclude that things haven't improved:
A year ago, a confidential Marine intelligence report declared Anbar province (which comprises about a third of Iraq’s territory) lost to al-Qaeda. Now, in what the Times’s John Burns calls an "astonishing success," the tribal sheiks have joined our side and committed large numbers of fighters that, in concert with American and Iraqi forces, have largely driven out al-Qaeda and turned its former stronghold of Ramadi into one of most secure cities in Iraq.When we hear about food and medical supplies pouring into Baqouba, it's impossible for thoughtful people to think that things aren't improving:
Iraqi Army Soldiers with the Diyala province deputy governor of health delivered 10 trucks full of medical supplies to Diyala province, July 4, as part of an effort to provide much needed medicines for people in the area. Soldiers from the 5th Iraqi Army Division with Dr. Homm, the deputy governor of health for Diyala province, traveled to Baghdad on the morning of July 4 to escort the trucks north.Then there's this good news:
Meanwhile, food distribution planning efforts in and around Baqouba continued as a part of Operation Arrowhead Ripper. The warehouses are full of rice, flour, cooking oil, beans, chai, milk, and soap. Fourteen trucks were also loaded and readied for delivery to the province.Mssrs. Franken and Ciresi are too wedded to their Nutroots friends, and their campaign contributions, to consider the possibility that conditions in Iraq are improving. They're also likely too afflicted with their BDS to think it's possible for President Bush to get something right, especially something this important.Since the beginning of the operation, Iraqi Security and Coalition Forces have provided approximately 462 metric tons of rice and flour to residents of Baqouba.
When everything is said and done, the choice is clear on who is the most qualified man for the job. The only real choice is to re-elect Sen. Coleman. It doesn't get much simpler than that.
