….are also apparently within the U.S. military:
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The top U.S. commander in Iraq has submitted a plan to the Pentagon for withdrawing troops in Iraq, according to a senior defense official.
Gen. George Casey submitted the plan to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. It includes numerous options and recommends that brigades — usually made up of about 2,000 soldiers each — begin pulling out of Iraq early next year.
The proposal comes as tension grows in both Washington and Baghdad following a call by a senior House Democrat to bring U.S. troops home and the deaths of scores of people by suicide bombers in two Iraqi cities.
So will President George W. Bush and GOPers in Congress now denounce him as someone who doesn’t support the troops?
Will they seek his resignation?
Will a junior Congresswoman get up in Congress and suggest he’s a “coward”?
Or, in this age when political expediency trumps consistency in authentically-believed values, ideas and principles, will they pretend that this is somehow different from Democrats who are suggesting that maybe it’s time to do exactly what General Casey is reported to have suggested?
Are patriotism, motives and courage only questioned if someone has “D” in front of their party affiliation?
And, if that is the case, exactly what should independents and moderates, independent-thinking Republicans, and moderate-to-conservative Democrats conclude about this? Actually, if you look at the polls, non-lock-step voters are already reaching some conclusions.