May 15, 2003

Feingold Bashs Bush

Tuesday, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) ripped President Bush for losing focus on the war on terrorism. "Our mission has become obscured, and our approach unfocused," he said on the Senate floor. He also said in an interview the Saudi bombings were a result of that lack of focus.

Feingold is a man who has been very critical of Bush's war against the Islamist terrorists. He's complained about the loss of civil liberties because of anti-terrorism legislation and Justice Department actions, and he opposed invading Iraq. But if he wanted to be honest about the facts he would mention that since September 11, 2001 there hasn't been an al-Qaeda attack on the U.S. mainland. When they have struck it's been in far-away places like Bali and Saudi Arabia. It seems to me we're winning the war. Regularly we read stories about another captured terrorist. While still potent, we're not sitting back waiting to get attacked. What would Feingold expect a proper war on terrorism to be, no attacks on Americans anywhere? That doesn't seem realistic.

What also galls me about Feingold and his fellow Democratic war critics is they offer no alternatives. I have not seen a Democratic leader (other than Sen. Lieberman) say how he would fight terrorism. Feingold only complains about American unilaterism, but that isn't a strategy; that's a detail. Critics like Feingold only reinforce Lieberman's belief that a Democrat won't stand a chance at defeating President Bush in 2004 unless they are dedicated to defending America.

"Feingold Critical of War on Terror"