More Dana Perino

It's a Dana Perino day at Pushing Rope. Plus, she is really getting on my nerves. She is asked if Congress should have a voice about Iraq. Perino uses the question as an opportunity to attack Harry Reid and Americans against the war.

One thing that concerned me today is I heard that Senator Reid said that the President is in denial about the war. And I think that any quick glance in the mirror would show him that he's in denial on several things -- that Senator Reid is.

First of all, he's in denial about the enemy that we face. This is a vicious and brutal enemy that wants to kill innocent men, women and children of Iraq, people who enjoy and love freedom, and that includes Americans. So it's not in our long-term national security interests in order to not deal with this enemy now.

Secondly, he's in denial about the conflict that we are in, how al Qaeda is inciting sectarian violence. He is in denial about the new Baghdad security plan and the new changes that we've implemented in al Anbar province. He's also in denial that a surrender date he thinks is a good idea. It is not a good idea. It is defeat. It is a death sentence for the millions of Iraqis who voted for a constitution, who voted for a government, who voted for a free and democratic society.

We all want the Iraqis to move faster, to do more and to do it faster, in terms of their political reconciliations. But they're just not ready to do it yet. And Americans are not the type that walk away in times of hardship. To leave people in Iraq flailing and defenseless against an enemy who is determined to kill them. And withdrawal is like crying "uncle," it's giving up. And I can assure you they are diluting themselves if they think that offering a surrender date is in the long-term strategic interests of this country. It is not.

Perino cites no evidence that Reid does not understand that terrorists are vicious. It is a long-used talking point that no longer packs punch. The Bushies are viewed by Americans as clueless about Iraq.

Perino calls a timetable a "surrender date." That rhetoric would pack more punch if the White House actually had a winning strategy. They don't. That is why they go after people who disagree with them so aggressively. It's the only trick in their bag and they are going to keep using it.

The most troubling part of Perino's statement.

We all want the Iraqis to move faster, to do more and to do it faster, in terms of their political reconciliations. But they're just not ready to do it yet.

Then what is the point? There has never been a sense of urgency by the White House to get the Sunnis and Shites to sit down and work out their differences. The surge is pointless if the two ethnic factions continue to engage in civil war.