From last night’s Special Report with Brit Hume:
—On Dealing with Iran—
MORT KONDRACKE: They want a stable Iraq that they dominate. And they are — they have every reason to think that they will dominate someday. Why? Here we are, the surge is not even completed yet, it’s two to three weeks before the surge and even the White House is talking about retreating back to the Iraq Study Group proposal where we’re — all we do is we train Iraqi troops, we get out of Baghdad and all that stuff that was recommended before which was exactly what we were doing before we started the surge.
So, the Iranians have been signaled by everybody in Washington, America is leaving. And so, sure, let’s have some discussions about things and what the Iranians have proposed in this meeting with Crocker is that they start arming the Iraqi army.
Well, guess what part of the Iraqi army they are going to arm? The same outfit that they’ve been arming, namely, the insurgents, and especially Sadr. Sadr is back in town. You know? They are building up toward a victory, an Iranian victory and we’re letting it happen. . . .
Iraqis want to us talk to the Iranians. So, to please the Iraqis we’re talking to the Iranians. We are not going to get anywhere talking to the Iranians. They think they have the upper hand and we’re pulling out and why should they not — why should they give us a thing?
—On Memorial Day and the War—
BRET BAIER: What is the job for these Democrats to walk the line? And how tough is it to be anti-war, yet on a day like this, honor the troops?
FRED BARNES: Well they — they just went against the war. They didn’t honor the troops. I mean, John Edwards exploited a holiday for honoring the troops and then he said, you do this in support of the troops. . . . For John Edwards to say he supports the troops is, I think, breathtakingly cynical. And, look, I’m not sure whether — you know, to exploit a holiday like this, whether it’s merely tacky or deeply offensive, but it’s one or the other or somewhere in between.
KONDRACKE: I think the Democrats have completely convinced themselves that they are supporting the troops by wanting to bring the troops home safe and sound in the United States of America with their mommies and daddies and wives and sisters and, you know, where they will not be in harm’s way and that this is the way to be patriotic and support the troops. I don’t think they are being cynical or they’re consciously cynical at all.
What really bothers me is this vote on the part of Obama and Hillary Clinton against the funding of the war. Now, this is a war ongoing. This is a war that has to be paid for. This is a war we are not pulling out tomorrow, the troops have to be — the way to support the troops is to at least maintain their activity. And for these people who want to be president of the United States to vote against the funding of the troops, I think is a disgrace.