Webb Gets It

I line up with this:

"The news of a terror plot uncovered and foiled in England today highlights the continuing need to stay committed and strong in our fight against global terrorism. This fight cannot be won by simple intimidation. America must continue to make funding and executing the war on terror a priority. British authorities should be commended for their excellent work in foiling this terrorist plot.

"The war on terror is global and we must confront it wherever necessary, with the full array of military options available. Winning this war will make America more secure. A victory requires a mobile fighting force, one that is capable of responding to threats wherever they emerge. The occupation of Iraq keeps our military locked down in a civil war in the Middle East, and consumes resources that can better be used in the larger fight against global terrorism.
"As recently as yesterday, George Allen conflated my long-held warnings against invading and occupying Iraq with being `against ... the war on terror.' Mr. Allen knows full well that he is misrepresenting my views in order to protect himself politically from his blind support of the Bush Administration's failed strategy in Iraq.

"Beginning more than a year before the invasion of Iraq, I consistently stated that the Administration's misguided effort to drag our country into an ill-advised occupation of Iraq would hurt, not help, in the war against international terror. I am deeply disappointed that Mr. Allen is now so clearly and deliberately misrepresenting my views. He knows exactly how I felt about this because I personally explained my views to him in September 2002, five months before the Iraq invasion.

"As the events of this morning demonstrate, the stakes in the war on terror are too high for people such as Mr. Allen to be using them as cheap political props."

This is a question of tactics, not disloyalty and hating America. The public at large, in my view, is not going to brook the kind of divisive talk that we have seen in the last 48 hours, with its attendant questioning of patriotism, et al. It's been far too long to bring up the same questions. We see how the world has changed in the last five years. The Republicans are running the exact same script they did in 2002. Times have changed and they haven't changed with them.