Reid: With Bush, Iraq War "Is Lost"

Oh, boy, are Republicans and the right-wing media going to be more uptight than Rush Limbaugh at a 12-step meeting over this one…

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid has clearly had it with the Iraq war and has made up his mind that, damn whatever political consequences may come, he's going to speak for the majority of the American people to end this disaster. Reid took to the Senate floor yesterday and again ripped into the Bush administration, saying "as long as we follow the President's path in Iraq, the war is lost."

Reid is right, of course, which is why most Americans would agree with that assessment. But just watch over the next few days as Republicans try to depict the Majority Leader as the second-coming of Benedict Arnold for simply telling the truth.

In fact, it's started already.

One of the first to come out to smear Reid was one of the scummiest Republicans in the Senate, John Cornyn of Texas. He wasted no time issuing a statement in which he tried to turn Reid's criticism of George W. Bush into an attack on the troops.

“It is now abundantly clear why the Democrat leadership in Congress has been holding hostage the critical funding that our troops need for body armor and weaponry – they simply do not believe our military can win, and they are no longer willing to stand behind them. I think that is both wrong and irresponsible," said Cornyn. “The Senate Democrat Leader is certainly entitled to his opinion, but his public lack of confidence in our troops is an insult to their deep sacrifice and a sign of encouragement to our terrorist enemies."

How's that for a Republican two-fer? Cornyn lies about who Reid is criticizing and then also tosses in the usual slime about Democrats supporting the terrorists.

But Reid knew that would come and is prepared to stand up to the likes of Cornyn and the White House.

"Conditions in Iraq get worse by the day, and now we find ourselves policing another nation's civil war," said Reid on Wednesday. "We are less secure from the many threats to our national security than we were when the war began. The American people want us to debate the war. They want us to change course."