MTP Panel and Capital Gang on the Iraq War
After weeks of lean-to-the-right panels and rather worthless discussions, Russert invites Al Hunt, Katty Kay, Andrea Mitchell, and Byron York to discuss various issues. OK, Atrios is right that the Social Security discussion was awful. But the Iraq discussion was of interest:
MR. HUNT: You also see, Tim, I think there is the beginnings of a huge battle within the conservative movement on the GOP side. I mean, I there are–I hear more anti-neocon sentiments coming from conservative Republicans these days, and I think that there is a lot of–you know, what did you get us into? You know, who did this to us, even as we’re approaching elections three weeks from now.
MR. RUSSERT: Conservative columnist George Will has expressed reservations. The founder of The National Review, William F. Buckley, has indicated some real concerns about the war in Iraq, Byron.
MR. YORK: He has basically said that if we knew then what we know now, that perhaps it wouldn’t have been worth doing…
MS. KAY: They didn’t have the major degree of insurgency in Afghanistan that you have now, and you also didn’t have a country that is so clearly split between Sunni, Kurd and Shia.
Not to defend Mr. York (National Review), but Ms. Kay forgets that there were many more than three factions of War Lords in Afghanistan. But what do they know over at the National Review now about Iraq that they did not know three months ago? So why was his crew supporting President Bush’s 3/19/2003 decision back then?
But the queen of NRO hacks remains Kate O-Beirne who routinely poisons the Capital Gang:
SHIELDS: Kate, are you equally unimpressed as Bob is by Alberto Gonzales?
O’BEIRNE: You know what I’m impressed by? The Democrats’ willingness to run the risk of running under a banner of prisoner rights for terrorists.
She did not just insult Democrats but also the entire country. Maybe she was not listening earlier in the show when Al Hunt praised a couple of GOP Senators:
HUNT: But I think his answers this week on the torture memos were not only disappointing, but you wonder if he gets it. As Republican senator Lindsey Graham pointed out – and I think there are POWs like – ex-POWs, rather, like John McCain who agree – Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo have really been – they’ve hurt us. They’ve been really – it’s not only wrong, they’ve been terribly injurious. And I think it’s clear that those memos and some other high-level decisions set that in motion.
Graham and McCain for prisoner rights for terrorists? But Kate – not every prisoner in Abu Ghraib was a terrorist.