Dean's right: There's no 'war' on terror

[joefree1]

Posted on Fri, Jan. 09, 2004

Dean's right: There's no 'war' on terror
By Matthew Miller
TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES

Howard Dean's major contribution to the debate so far isn't what you think. It isn't his innovative use of the Internet or his grassroots fund-raising; it isn't even his nimble ability to transform the Democratic base's outrage over President Bush into his own personal political trampoline.
No, in terms of the issues facing the nation in 2004, Howard Dean's most unique contribution - the place he departs from every other Democrat and all the major news media - is his correct refusal to accept George Bush and Karl Rove's language defining the post-9-11 struggle against terrorism as a "war" on terror.
Edit...
That's always been the White House plan. Rove's secret motto since shortly after Sept. 12 has been, "State of war - at least through '04!" He knows this framing gives Republicans a structural advantage, perhaps in perpetuity. Only Dean seems to grasp that this inaccurate language, and all it implies, could cost his party enough votes to swing elections for years.
Or, to put it more precisely, he's the only one who gets it and has the guts to challenge it.
More ...
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/news/opinion/7663870.htm
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I have to agree. If this presidential campaign is only about who can better win the "war on terrorism" then Democrats will loose. From health care to education to the environment to jobs to intolerance we must make this debate about the direction Bush is taking America.


Images from Dean Rocks the House of Blues, Hollywood
From wtmusic http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=919849
From Joefree1 http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=921300

[papau]

1. I agree - only Dean has rejected the new forever War on Terror

I like him for that.

[joefree1]

2. And for you Clark supporters check out this quote

"It will take public figures with more military credentials than Howard Dean to help make this case if Dean is the nominee. People like Bob Kerrey and Sam Nunn and even Al Gore come to mind - along with, of course, Wesley Clark."

http://recallarnoldwatch.org/small_art/GOREDrumbeat.gi

[cavebat2000]

3. Yep

That kind of bullsh** from Rove is what has helped misled our entire nation. Although I will give it to Clark. Clark said we are attacking the president for NOT attacking the terrorists. So, while I absolutly agree and am glad Dean has done that, he is not the only one either. That part I will dismiss.

[joefree1]

5. I agree, but it's hyperbole from the author

Dean didn't say that he was the only one. The author was making the case that Dean was the only one that would not classify this struggle as a "war."

Clark supporters: how does Clark classify our battle with terrorism? I'm not sure whether or not he has used the word "war." :shrug:

[LittleDannySlowhorse]

12. Clark doesn't classify it as a war either

He actually rejects the entire premise that in order to fight terrorism, you have to go after nation-states. He sees it instead as an effort require a lot of law enforcement, intelligence gathering, and just general targeting of individuals and groups as opposed to whole countries. Dean has expressed the same sentiment, so I think they're both right about that.

[BurtWorm]

4. Damn straight!

(No offense to anyone who's bent. ;) )

Count the number of times Dean has called the Bushists on being plain wrong and been right. Iraq war, the Southern vote, Saddam's capture... It happens to be the same number of times, virtually, that the media and his opponents have come down on him for making "gaffes."

[candy331]

7. Keep it coming Dean and we do applaud you for

showing that "We have the power to take back OUR Country" and really do something about terror, education, healthcare, jobs and more,to change the direction Bush and repubs have taken this country.

[CMT]

6. absolutely

For a guy attacked because of his foreign policy credentials--Dean is often right on target--and has been especially so on Iraq and the "war on terror."

[Atlant]

8. What CMT already said. (NT)

[Bombtrack]

9. Clark can do both

he's the polar opposite of Bush. Bush and Dean both have no natural ability to firsthand know what our soldiers are going through and what struggling american families are going through

Clark has both in spades

The voters will understand that.

[joefree1]

10. I was with you at first

I agree Clark has the military experience but military life is nothing like civilian life. I respect Clark and would gladly vote for him. However military service does not automatically mean he can lead civilians too. Otherwise we would have a military government instead of a civilian one.

[LittleDannySlowhorse]

11. Yes, yes, and yes!

I've been saying this since the run-up to Iraq. The only reason people think of this race in terms of defeating a "popular wartime president" is because that's the fiction that the Bush administration has been pushing.

If we're at war, it's because the United States STARTED ONE with Iraq.

I would be more than willing to support the notion that we're a nation legitimately at war if we were aggressively going after bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Instead, the Bush administration used 9-11 to promote an agenda that they had intended to pursue anyway. 9-11 was the best thing that ever happened to them, because now they can use it to justify any action they so desire against any group of AY-rabs anywhere.

I feel like it's a real mistake to allow the Bush administration to frame this presidential race in those terms, and I feel like we're letting them get away with it. We cannot allow this president to use 9-11 as a catch-all shield behind which to hide himself from having to deal with his many failures as commander-in-chief.

God I hate these fucking people.

[cthrumatrix]

13. we can ALL reject this manipulation by voting shrub out and Dr Dean

is right on ...and has been from day one about this.

[ThirdWheelLegend]

14. Which Dean are we talking about again?

The one from the article or this one?

"First, defeat the threat posed by terrorists, tyrants, and technologies of mass destruction."

http://beta.deanforamerica.com/site/cg/index.html?type=page&pagename=policy_statement_foreign

'hold your finger to the wind' Howard


TWL

[ThirdWheelLegend]

15. I still don't know

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