Hoystory

Last week, Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid said the war is lost. It’s taken me a while to cool down from wanting to kick a certain senior senator from the state of Nevada where the sun don’t shine.

While Reid’s white-flag-of-surrender moment wasn’t altogether unsurprising, what that statement prompted him to do a few days later was embarassing.

BASH: You talked several times about General Petraeus. You know that he is here in town. He was at the White House today, sitting with the president in the Oval Office and the president said that he wants to make it clear that Washington should not be telling him, General Petraeus, a commander on the ground in Iraq, what to do, particularly, the president was talking about Democrats in Congress.

He also said that General Petraeus is going to come to the Hill and make it clear to you that there is progress going on in Iraq, that the so-called surge is working. Will you believe him when he says that?

REID: No, I don’t believe him, because it’s not happening.

Imagine how Democrats would howl — and with good reason — if President Bush had the same attitude toward the generals on the ground if they were advising retreat.

The Democrats should be embarassed. Not six months ago the Senate unanimously approved Petreaus for his current position, with complete knowledge of what he planned to do.

Now, the Senate majority leader says that unless the commanding general tells him exactly what he wants to hear — that nothing can be done in Iraq and we should pull out now — then the man is a liar.

Harry Reid — a politician — has called a 4-star Marine Corps general a liar.

There are ways to oppose continued U.S. involvement in Iraq that are reasonable and honorable. You can advocate for cutting off funding as a way to bring the troops home. You can bash President Bush for his botched handling of the nation-building effort that followed the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime.

However, to declare the war “lost” when U.S. troops are still in the thick of battle — and winning the battle — is unconscionable. To call a commanding general a liar on national television — with no proof other than your own politically expeditious desires — is beyond the pale.

In a saner world, there would be calls for Reid to step down — from the Senate, not just as majority leader. But that’s representative of what the American left has become — they’re not only willing to have the country lose a war, but they’re actually enthusiastic about the possibility.