Rudy and Sweeney wearing Rose Colored Glasses

The Times Union reports on Giulani's fundraising/PR stunt with John Sweeney. Sweeney's comments and commitment to supporting Bush's More of the Same in Iraq demonstrate how out of touch Sweeney is with the realities.

...He [Giulani] applauded President Bush's declaration Monday that troops will remain in Iraq to "finish the job," calling him "a determined leader who is absolutely right to say the troops will be there until we achieve our objective."

Sweeney called those seeking an immediate withdrawal from Iraq "obtuse." He acknowledged "mistakes certainly have happened" in Iraq. "That doesn't mean, though, that you ought to give up on the commitment to bring stability to the region," he added.

"We cannot have Iraq in a destabilized place that can turn into Afghanistan II," Sweeney said. ...(source)

Iraq is a not a stable place now. How many years or decades does John Sweeney want to spend finding out that we cannot create a stable nation in Iraq? The Iraqis have to create a stable nation there. The situation there is worse than in Afghanistan, though the national media refuses to utter this: the Iraqis seem to be fighting a civil war at this point. Ironically, the fear of a civil war was the reason why Bush's father didn't topple Saddam in Dessert Storm. What role can our troops play in a civil war?

For the record, Kirsten Gillibrand isn't calling for an immediate withdrawal, here is her most recent Iraq statement, which is in stark contrast to Sweeney's Ostrich Outlook.

Another thing Sweeney's wrong about, in spite of his claims below: Al Quaeda's attempts to attack Western targets, including the recent London plot demonstrate that fighting people in Iraq doesn't stop Osoma Bin Laden from plotting against us in his cave.

From the Post Star:

...Outside, protesters criticized Sweeney mostly for supporting President George Bush and the Iraq war, which was an "oil war," they said.

"I protested the Vietnam War because my cousin was killed in '68 and I haven't been back to the streets since ... until now," said Bill Baker of Sand Lake.

Joe Seeman, an organizer of the rally, called the luncheon "legalized bribery" in an effort to continue proliferating the war so large companies can land big defense contracts.

Baker yelled to Giuliani, "Why Rudy, why?" when he arrived at the luncheon.

Giuliani later said outside the fire station that U.S. troops need to stay in Iraq in order to win the war on terror.

"The troops should remain in Iraq until we accomplish our mission by helping to create a stable and accountable government," he said. "That is why we are there. That objective is critical to winning the war on terrorism."

Giuliani added, "George Bush is going to finish what he started."

Sweeney echoed those remarks.

"Mistakes happen in wars; they certainly happened here. I was acknowledging that in October '03," Sweeney said. "That doesn't mean though that you ought to give up on your commitment to try and bring stability to the region and try and make America safer by being on offense rather than waiting to be attacked."

Gillibrand, Sweeney's Democratic opponent. issued a press release Monday reiterating her position the United States should a deadline of six, nine or 12 months to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq.

In the meantime, Gillibrand said in a telephone interview that stability can be achieved in Iraq by using Iraqi companies, instead of U.S. companies, to do reconstruction work, with reconstruction contracts divided among thee main factions.

A stronger Iraq economy will reduce the chances of continued conflict, she said. (source by subscription)

Being on the offensive rather than waiting to be attacked? We are being attacked in Iraq on a daily basis. The deaths of our soldiers don't count according to John Sweeney? The number of Iraqi deaths occurring in this war are also a huge problem creating more anger toward our nation, providing recruiting opportunities for terrorists.

...Now in its fourth year, the war has taken a toll — more than 2,600 Americans have died and many more Iraqis have been killed. Last month alone, about 3,500 Iraqis died violently, the highest monthly civilian toll so far... (source)