DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS

It would appear the Congressional Democrats have finally realized like the Taliban, that it is foolhardy to go head to head with the US military and have resorted to a new form of warfare on the administration. This is similar in nature to the efforts of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, small attacks with seemingly spectacular results that drive the MSM to produce ridiculous headlines.

The liberal democrats are currently being lead in this effort by many but a few stand out and their actions should be looked at:

Let me introduce the Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Rep Henry Waxman of the 30th district of California. Here’s a congressman who has got the art of the spectacular CNN splash attack down to a science having taken lessons from Rep John Murtha his fellow Democrat who’s as equally loose with the facts. He loves to put out information papers just before he holds his hearings that often have nothing to do with the particular subject at hand but help rev up the media for the coming event.

Take the recent testimony of Eric Prince, the CEO of Blackwater USA. Just prior to the hearing Mr. Waxman’s office put out a 13-page press release outlining a plane crash involving Blackwater pilots that occurred in Afghanistan some years ago which was full of innuendo and supposition but lacking in any new information or facts. Now the point of the hearing was to look at Private Security Company’s providing services to the DoD and DoS in Iraq and was called in response although not specifically after the recent incident involving Blackwater contractors and Iraqi citizens.

Rep Waxman also recently put out another 13-page (he must love the number) press release again dealing with Blackwater in which a contractor had tried to sue Blackwater for not making him an employee after speaking to his local IRS field office. While every contractor I know working in the industry is in fact on a personal services contract meaning you are responsible for reporting and paying your taxes and other than life support services while working, and insurance under the BDA should you be injured or killed there is no residual support. The local field office of the IRA without contacting Blackwater supported the fired worker’s complaint and agreed to open a case file. Based on that the good Congressman put out his press release alleging that Blackwater may not have followed IRS rules and may own millions of dollars to the IRS in uncollected and unpaid withholding taxes. They won’t but who cares the name Blackwater is in the press in a negative way again.

Why is representative Waxman doing this? Well as you will see as this piece goes along it is part of a gorilla campaign by the Democrats to end the Iraq war and embarrass the administration while playing to the left wing base of the party. If Chairman Waxman can gather enough innuendo to have Blackwater kicked out of Iraq, the DoS cannot do its job, USAID cannot provide oversight to the many reconstruction contracts ongoing which means their quality and quantity will dramatically drop. Blackwater and every other PSC will not be able to recruit top quality men if the benefits of personal services contracts are changed to employee status contracts and the value to the USG will disappear as the added costs of taxes and benefits will be factored in to proposals.

Another piece to this guerrilla campaign is being lead by Speaker Pelosi herself. She’s out front on the Armenian Genocide vote saying, the committee passed it and therefore it should come to the floor. As we all know this will only further isolate our Turkish allies and cause them to retaliate in some equally public way such as restricting the number of flight allowed into their airspace per month which will limit the amount of supplies that can be moved into Iraq. Yes there are other ways to move supplies into Iraq but it would cost more money, meaning another appropriations bill fight, and would involve longer ground based supply lines being protected by you guessed it PSC personnel. Funny how when President Clinton needed this bill to disappear in 2000 after being passed by the Foreign Affairs committee, Republican Speaker Hastert did just that, he made it go away. What you ask was President Clintons reason for not wanting to provoke Turkey in 2000? He didn’t want to make enforcing the critical no fly zone in Northern Iraq more difficult.

Like Al Qaeda, the democrats have taken the fight to the street and are using the MSM to win the war of American hearts and minds since they lost the big battles with the administration like cutting funding, setting a date certain oh and the big one, the surge isn’t working.

It’s sad to watch the democrats stoop this low but when I read about Operation Pink activities and those of Westboro Baptist Church I realize what pressure they must be under from their base to reverse their failures in their battle to lose the Iraq war.

Whether it’s the exposure of interrogation techniques, wiretap techniques or bank transaction monitoring, the liberals and the MSM have done everything possible to ensure the GWOT goes on for much longer than it needs too. When Congress changed hands the Democrats began to see what happens to those in power, if they continue their efforts a Democratic president just may have to learn what really has be to done to win against the most fanatical enemy this country has faced since the Japanese of WW II. If that happens I can bet my pension that Chairman Waxman’s 13-page press releases will disappear in a heartbeat.

Until that day comes (and hopefully it never does) the Democrats will continue this death by a thousand cuts routine at every opportunity to continue to restrict and hinder the administrations efforts to win both in Iraq and the more general GWOT. Sadly they might just pull this effort off although I wouldn’t count this President and the US Military out just yet.