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Sherman Frederick
Sherman Frederick is a columnist for Stephens Media. His column appears Sunday in the Opinion section of the Review-Journal. In between Sundays, you can find out what's on his mind here.

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Sen. Reid tells a whopper on why he said "this war is lost"

In politics the truth can get stretched every which way. All stripes of politicians do it to one degree or another.

But now and again a politician comes along and tells a whopper so big it cannot pass. That's what happened this morning in the Q&A between Sen. Harry Reid and Sharron Angle in a front page of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Asked about his 2007 comment in which he proclaimed "This war is lost" while our soldiers were still in Iraq getting their heads shot at and before the so-called "surge" even had begun, Reid today said that his statement was actually a "successful" ploy to force President Bush to refocus on political reconciliation.

What? Pahleeze! You have to read the whole thing to believe it. It's simply a fantasy explanation for what really happened and for it to be published on the day in which America transitions out of combat in Iraq, well, it simply makes the whole deal all the more icky.

The undeniable fact is Sen. Reid called it wrong on Iraq. He undercut our troops in the process. Bush called it right. The "surge" worked and it (not Sen. Reid's "This war is lost" statement) made today possible. That's the unvarnished truth and no amount of revisionist sophistry will change it.

And, of course, Sen. Reid wasn't the only one to call it wrong on the Iraq "surge". President Barack Obama did the same thing, though he did it in a way that did not undermine the troops like Sen. Reid. The video below is a good reminder of who was right in the war ... and who was wrong.

 

 

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21 Responses to "Sen. Reid tells a whopper on why he said "this war is lost""
It was Bush's fault Reid made the comment. Sounds like a typical defense of a democrat.
Written by: Deep.Thoughts on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010 at 4:57 PM -- Report abuse
Sherman Frederick practices a particularly disturbing form of hit-and-run partisan advocacy. He uses his position as newspaper publisher to make reckless, thinly-sourced accusations about people with whose politics he disagrees. Then, when his assertions are challenged, he quickly moves on. No attempt to justify his assertions, and never, ever, an admission of error. He simply moves on to the next false statement.
It is the antithesis of responsible journalism.
Here is a particularly vivid example: On July 25, Mr. Frederick accused the President of having "secretly backed the release" from a Scottish prison of the Lockerbie bomber. His source? A Rupert Murdoch newspaper. When challenged, Mr. Frederick stuck to his accusation, but provided no additional collaboration.
The next day, the State Department released the full text of the "secret letter" that Mr. Frederick had pointed to as "explosive" evidence of the President's complicity. The actual letter said the exact opposite of what Mr. Frederick had claimed it said:
"The United States maintains its view that in light of the scope of Megrahi’s crime, its heinous nature, and its continued and devastating impact on the victims and their families, it would be most appropriate for Megrahi to remain imprisoned for the entirety of his sentence. This was the understanding and expectation at the time arrangements were made for his trial in Scottish Court in the Netherlands, were he or his confederate to be convicted and their appeals upheld."

Did Mr. Frederick ever acknowledge his error? Did he ever apologise to the R-J's readers for misleading them? Of course not.
Written by: nypete on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010 at 5:03 PM -- Report abuse
Sherm the war is lost. Just like Viet Nam. The end simply hasn't come yet.

Wanna know what the end looks like? Iranian Hezbollah backed Arab Shiites will be running Iraq
in the next few years.

We broke it, tried to return it, and the Iranians will end up owning it.

Thanks Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz you micro brained weasels.
Written by: Jack.Sprat on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010 at 5:07 PM -- Report abuse
How can you as a Complete Las Vegan sit there with your prestigious NAU communications degree on the wall and let Sharron Angle get away with her non-answers?

Multiple times her handlers simply said she would leave matters of national defense up to the military, yet state that her main priority is national defense.

Sharron Angle will work tirelessly to shore up national defense by leaving it up to others.

Sherm...Journalist's Creed by Walter Williams...read it yet?
Written by: Mizzougypsy on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010 at 5:41 PM -- Report abuse
Jack,

You are entitled to your opinion. I'm sure our enemies agree with you. Also, I think Sen. Harry Reid agrees with you ... but he doesn't have the guts to admit it. Instead, he makes excuses for his "This war is lost" statement.

Sherm
Written by: Sherm on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010 at 5:43 PM -- Report abuse
Sherm: I'm wonder about your professed insight into what "our enemies" think; does that come from personal interaction with them? Thanks in advance to your anticipated response to this EXTREMELY concerning and troubling issue!
Written by: steven.alexander on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010 at 6:18 PM -- Report abuse
Yeah. He was trying to get Bush to change course. So much so he denied ever saying "this war is lost" when I interviewed him in 2008.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZm8j9sArdg

Casey Hendrickson KDOX
Written by: caseythehost on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010 at 6:40 PM -- Report abuse
I visited the Sharron Angle website today, You know, for fun, and noticed that several large pieces of RJ articles are re-produced there. Will you be filing a lawsuit against Mrs. Angle as you have done for non-profit agencies interested in educating the public about infectious ailments?

I wondered because I know Angle considers the RJ a "friend", and we both know your coverage of the race for senate is so one sided, that the Angle comments by you are almost non-existent, while you beat the dead horse of a years old Harry Reid quote. (except for that little rah-rah puff piece you produced some time ago that you pretend shows balance, while the national media covers Angle daily for her dopey statements and hiding from the media)

I won't expect an answer, since there's no defending yourself here. But, it WOULD be fun to watch you try....
Written by: Scout on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010 at 7:28 PM -- Report abuse
Twisted sick little vermin. Can't we get a better class of troll on this site? These Alinsky rejects squawk the same tripe, day after day. Where's the government made millionaire with his "attack the messenger" quote?

What's the deal, fellas? Why are you so upset that we remember what Øbama and Reid said and did? Why are you such spoiled rotten children?
Written by: Athos on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010 at 10:33 PM -- Report abuse
"The undeniable fact is Sen. Reid called it wrong on Iraq."

The undeniable fact is, he called it right. First you complained that he even said it. Now you're complaining about why he said it. And many of us still maintain that war is lost. It sure isn't won. Senator Reid was right. Bush lost his "Implanting Democracy in Iraq and it spreading in the Middle East." We simply forced a régime change and a new dictator. Bush's war is lost. Within a year, a new religious dictator will take over and Bush will have spilled our blood for nothing. And you're whining about semantics.

Why don’t you make a, "The war is won," statement, Sherman? Go ahead, make our day. We'll save that statement to use later.
Written by: Jerry.Sturdivant on Wednesday, Sep. 01, 2010 at 5:01 AM -- Report abuse
You're right, as always, Sherman Frederick. Senator Reid was wrong. The 8 1/2 year trillion dollar war, which cost thousands of American lives, was a smashing success. President Bush was right, too, with his 'Mission Accomplished' banner. The weapons of mass destruction were found and Iraq was found to be an imminent threat to the United States.

The Iraqi people are now free and will probably have a stable government for the next two hundred years as the United States.

You and President Bush's economic positions are correct, too.

That is why the economy is going so well and your newspaper is flourishing.
Written by: Diogenes of Sinope on Wednesday, Sep. 01, 2010 at 5:52 AM -- Report abuse
With this statement to Jack,
"You are entitled to your opinion. I'm sure our enemies agree with you." Sherm shows the mental functioning of a ten year old.
Written by: MSchaffer on Wednesday, Sep. 01, 2010 at 6:35 AM -- Report abuse
Sherman, you mean the Iraqis are our enemies? What did they do to our country? There wasn't an Iraqi connection to 9/11 and there weren't weapons of mass destruction. What was accomplished by invading a sovereign country without cause for the first time in the history of this republic?

You worry about the present administration spending funds to get the country out of a recession but have no qualms wasting money (and more importantly lives) on this boondoggle.
Written by: Diogenes of Sinope on Wednesday, Sep. 01, 2010 at 6:45 AM -- Report abuse
Sherman Frederick has the maturity of a ten year old. If you disagree with his opinions, he calls you names or questions your patriotism.

He does remind me of a spoiled child. With his dwindling readers, he begs for ANY attention he can get. Positive or negative. He knows he can not get recognition for his journalism skills (Pulitzer price anyone?).
Written by: Diogenes of Sinope on Wednesday, Sep. 01, 2010 at 6:49 AM -- Report abuse
In short, Harry Reid has enlisted kids to spy and to dig dirt on Sharron.

This is supposed to be a professional. In fact, Harry is a miserable, failed, lead Democrat.

In the end, Nevada should be ashamed of this. A senior Senator engaging in the worst kind of political mud slinging.

Harry wont run on his record, which is the only thing that matters. He is a proven failure.
Written by: gbigs on Wednesday, Sep. 01, 2010 at 8:27 AM -- Report abuse
Two years in and the left are still blaming Bush. Obama's going to drive this car over the cliff and then hand the keys to some poor schmuck in 2013 and the revisionist history machine will crank up into high gear to clean up BHO's "legacy".
Written by: Larry.Lewis on Wednesday, Sep. 01, 2010 at 10:06 AM -- Report abuse
There isn't an expiration date on culpability.

That is like saying that two years after WWII, the allies were still blaming Hitler for starting World War II.

I am sure you will be disappointed to hear some of today's economic news. The stock market (DJI) is up 240 points today:

"U.S. stocks rose the most in almost two months as better-than-estimated growth in American and Chinese manufacturing bolstered confidence in the global economic recovery."

"Banking profits hit pre-crisis levels"

"Surprise bounce in consumer confidence in August"

Conservatives would rather obstruct and see the country fail rather than support the President in our economic recovery.
Written by: Diogenes of Sinope on Wednesday, Sep. 01, 2010 at 11:14 AM -- Report abuse
DIOGENES - economic recovery will never happen with 14.8% unemployment. The market going up will NOT brings jobs to America. Let us know when unemployment is down to say 4.5% when PELOSI and REID blasted BUSH for his DISASTERIOUS ECONOMIC POLICES IN 2006!!
Written by: Mark.Gallo on Wednesday, Sep. 01, 2010 at 12:34 PM -- Report abuse
wow, these dire predictions of what will happen next year in iraq sound so much like what we heard last year about iraq.
and the year before that. and the year before that.
are the defenders of this miserable cretin reid getting impatient, yet? they want us to ultimately fail there so bad, just so their beloved dnc senate leader will be right.

what pitiful slaves. stockholm syndrome to the nth degree.
Written by: bothpartiessuck on Wednesday, Sep. 01, 2010 at 12:46 PM -- Report abuse
I believe it was Charles De Gaulle who said, "No politician believes what they say, therefore they are always surprised when anyone believes what they say." So it must be with Harry Reid.
Written by: mcmorrisj on Wednesday, Sep. 01, 2010 at 1:39 PM -- Report abuse
Does anybody really expect this Gutless leadership to ever admit they made a mistake?

Written by: justanoguy on Tuesday, Sep. 07, 2010 at 2:55 PM -- Report abuse
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