Jeffrey Scott Shapiro - Investigative Reporter, Washington, D.C.-based Lawyer

Forsaking Honor

This last weekend, two top Democrats in the U.S. Senate said they will introduce a resolution to start withdrawing troops from Iraq. Sens. Carl Levin and Joseph Biden both appeared on ABC's "This Week," saying the recent Democratic victory is an obvious sign the American people want to withdraw our troops from Iraq.

Their proposed resolution signifies the unbending opposition to the war many people have expressed ever since the early days of the war, the moment the insurgency began to fight back. Democratic leaders such as John Kerry and John Edwards reversed their position on a war they voted for in 2002, blaming their congressional decisions on flawed intelligence while ignoring the fact Saddam Hussein was still in violation of the U.N. cease-fire agreement established after the invasion of Kuwait.

Last November, in a column in The Washington Post that began, "I was wrong," Mr. Edwards wrote: "We have to give our troops a way to end their mission honorably. That means leaving behind a success, not a failure. What is success? I don't think it is Iraq as a Jeffersonian democracy. I think it is an Iraq that is relatively stable, largely self-sufficient, comparatively open and free, and in control of its own destiny."

Those of us who support the liberation effort do not believe it is that simple. We believe success is not abandoning Iraq to the hands of a merciless insurgency vigorously fighting to rule with the iron hand that "President" Saddam Hussein once did. We believe it would be a disastrous failure for American foreign policy to leave Iraq powerless to defend itself against a hawkish Iran that may try to invade and seize control of her oil wells. And, unlike Mr. Edwards, our definition of success is nothing short of a flourishing Iraqi democracy where all citizens can live without fear.

Dishonoring the real American heroes

Last week, Sen. John Kerry came under fire after he was accused of throwing away medals he won during the Vietnam War.

The controversy stems from an incident in which Kerry says he simply discarded his ribbons at an anti-war protest in April 1971. According to ABC News, Kerry said that he discarded the medals during a Nov. 6, 1971, interview with a Washington, D.C. news program. Kerry has professed throughout his presidential campaign that he threw away his ribbons, not his medals.

“We threw away the symbols of what our country gave us for what we had gone through,” Kerry said on “Good Morning America” earlier this week, adding that he didn't make a distinction between medals and ribbons.

Perhaps what is most surprising about this strange and irrelevant story is the fact that the media have chosen to focus on a minor disparity between the senator's statements, instead of celebrating the courage he showed when winning his war decorations — and the bravery it took to discard them.

What it means to be an American

There has been a whisper across this land that we have lost our greatness. It is a whisper, clamored by an outcry of blame and virulence against our president for having the courage to liberate Iraq. It is an outcry of lies.

Americans should be proud of U.S. achievements in Iraq

According to the Democratic National Committee, the current problems in Iraq are attributable to the president's "unrealistic goals, bad policies and incompetent political leadership."

Notable Republican legislators have changed their position on the war. Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska recently said that "the White House is completely disconnected to reality" and that "the reality is that we're losing in Iraq."

Last strong Democrat standing?

It isn't very politically correct to be a pro-war Democrat these days - just ask Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, who recently came under fire for opposing withdrawal of our troops.

The former Democratic vice-presidential nominee has taken hits from both House Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who have openly chastised the Connecticut legislator for saying "we need to finish the job."

Virulent opposition to the war, accented with anti-American sentiment has prevailed at the very heart of the Democratic Party in the last two years. Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean recently said, "The idea we're going to win this war is an idea that is unfortunately just plain wrong," while former President Clinton called the war a "big mistake." Former presidential nominee John Kerry recently claimed American soldiers were "going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children."

It's more than clear to Americans and the world that the Democratic Party leadership views the war in Iraq as both hopeless and without value.