RUSH: I got a fax from Duncan Hunter here, Republican presidential candidate and ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee in the US House. ‘Dear Rush: The Iraq funding bill that the Democrats passed last night includes one of the most devastating provisions ever passed during a military conflict. Page four of the bill states this: ‘None of the funds may be used to deploy any unit to Iraq unless the president has certified in writing to the committees on appropriations and Armed Services at least 15 days in advance of the deployment that the unit is fully mission capable.’ Today, our military operations in Iraq involve dozens of units moving across the Iraq border every 24 hours. These units may be aircraft called from an aircraft carrier off the coast or the air base in Turkey or Special Forces, SEAL/Ranger teams, special explosive teams or any of a number of other specialized reaction forces. Thus the Democrat notify-and-wait-for-fifteen-days provision, if it becomes law, will endanger our troops in Iraq by prohibiting supportive or reinforcing units from coming to their aid in a timely fashion. In this war against terrorism, targets are acquired which present only small windows of opportunity, sometimes involving minutes, some involving hours. For the Democrat leadership to require fifteen-day waiting periods for reaction forces is a remarkable disservice to every American in Iraq.’
He sent along the relevant language from page four of the legislation, which I just read to you. This is, frankly, amazing. We’ve got some sound bites on the roster today of Pelosi and Dingy Harry talking about their latest bid to secure defeat. Congressman Hunter does not say this in his fax to me, but, ladies and gentlemen, it is clear that provisions like this — and everything else they’ve been doing — is oriented toward losing, particularly now, when we’re on the verge of victory. The Democrats cannot withstand that politically. They cannot allow that to happen, because they have gone so far over the cliff on this that there’s no way that they can share any credit or even any of the joy in victory. They are trying to sabotage it, and this is going to come back and bite them. I am at a loss here to describe the emotions I’m feeling in trying to analyze this. Never have I seen anything like this in time of war, in my lifetime — and I doubt that anybody else alive today has, either. The idea that this is going to benefit them and help them? They think this is going to help them? Believe me, if the attitudes of the American people, en masse, were to lose, we would have lost — just like the attitudes of the American people totally opposed amnesty, and there is no amnesty. They’re going to keep trying, obviously, but the bill was defeated.
If the Democrats really had the support of 72% of the American people for getting out and for losing, we would be out. They would have the guts to de-fund it. They’d have the guts to actually pass these resolutions that they propose. They’d have the votes to override any presidential veto if the people were behind ’em. They think the people are behind them, but they aren’t. This incessant, over-the-top devotion and playing to their wacko base is — trust me on this — going to hurt them big time. They’re afraid of them. MoveOn.org and these groups out there are threatening, especially candidates in the House of Representatives, ‘If you don’t do the right thing on this, we’re going to find candidates to run against and you we’re going to run ads against you, and we’re going to make sure that you lose, and we’re going to get some anti-war Democrats in there if we have to get you out.’ So there’s a little personal fear of these groups actually being able to defeat them next November. It’s also fundraising. But it’s also illustrative that they don’t give a rat’s ass about the country. They just don’t. They don’t care about the US military. They are happy. Their joy will be if we lose this if they can secure defeat.
Ponder that for a moment.