Advice to Republicans: Stop Conceding What You Don't Have To

This morning I heard Madeline Albright and Sen. Lindsey Graham being interviewed by Tim Russert on "Meet the Press." Russert asked Graham about a statement he made regarding ties between Iraq and al Qaeda (I think it was regarding 9/11 ties). Graham stated categorically that he was wrong.

Why? This was an opportunity to talk about the fact that there were ties between Iraq and al Qaeda. Hell... the man was sitting there with Madeline Albright. The Clinton administration had made the connection between Iraq and al Qaeda. We have this from a Washington Times article: "The 1998 indictment said: 'Al Qaeda also forged alliances with the National Islamic Front in the Sudan and with the government of Iran and its associated terrorist group Hezbollah for the purpose of working together against their perceived common enemies in the West, particularly the United States. In addition, al Qaeda reached an understanding with the government of Iraq that al Qaeda would not work against that government and that on particular projects, specifically including weapons development, al Qaeda would work cooperatively with the government of Iraq.'" [emphasis is mine]

We also know Saddam harbored (and paid the way for) one of the first World Trade Center bombers.

Steven Hayes has done excellent work chronicling ties between Iraq and al Qaeda, including this piece in the Weekly Standard.

Moreover, we have reports of Iraqi Intelligence Service people in Prague perilously close to the places where Attah was finalizing plans for the 9/11 attacks.

Basically, reports on 9/11 report no conclusive proof that Iraq was involved in 9/11, but they don't provide conclusive proof that Iraq wasn't involved either. What IS clear is that there were ties between al Qaeda and Iraq. Ties that appeared to be Saddam courting Bin Laden. Why would he do that? Well, he hated the USA and wanted to find ways to effectively strike us, and what better way than helping people who were effectively striking us. Does it take genius to figure this out? Opponents of this theory generally rely on the argument that Bin Laden didn't like Saddam because he thought Saddam was a lousy Muslim. Certainly, a man of Bin Laden's high character wouldn't stoop to doing business with a lousy Muslim! Except that he did business with none other than the United States when he was fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan, and I don't think he regards the US Government as good Muslims.

So... Graham is sitting there with Albright, and instead of saying that the Clinton administration had pointed out ties between Iraq and al Qaeda, actually including an accusation that Iraq had agreed to assist al Qaeda in development of WMD in a legal document, and talking about all of the other ties Iraq had to al Qaeda and other terror organizations, and concluding that, while the administration itself had never claimed Iraqi ties to 9/11, it was also not conclusively proven that there weren't any, Graham simply concedes that he was wrong.

Of course, he was also conceding all kinds of other things... mistakes in the conduct of the war, not having enough troops, etc. All while supposedly making the case that we need to stay and win. This is bullshit. You can concede that, in perfect 20/20 hindsight, some things could definitely have been done differently. But you also add that, while in the midst of the action, when you don't really know what is coming next, you don't have that benefit. You act, see the way the opposition reacts, then you adapt and change and act again. (Why do people seem to understand this while watching a football game on a Sunday afternoon, but they don't get it when it comes to a war?)

Republicans like Graham need to stop conceding errors without contextualizing them. Anytime one is taking action, making something happen, mistakes happen along the way. You can acknowledge that, but you don't make it an emphasis (or make statements that allow others to emphasize it). You put it into a context where the moment we're in matters, not the mistakes made along the way. President Bush does it right. He inserts that "missteps" have been made, but he keeps his argument focused on the big picture and he emphasizes THAT. Republicans in Congress need to follow that lead, particularly when they're in a conversation with someone with as little ground to stand on as Madeline Albright.