Foreign Policy: Then and Now

Here's a few choice quotes for you to ponder:

"You can support the troops but not the president" -Representative Tom Delay (R-TX)

"[The] President…is once again releasing American military might on a foreign country with an ill-defined objective and no exit strategy. He has yet to tell the Congress how much this operation will cost. And he has not informed our nation's armed forces about how long they will be away from home. These strikes do not make for a sound foreign policy." -Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA)

"I had doubts about the bombing campaign from the beginning...I didn't think we had done enough in the diplomatic area." -Senator Trent Lott (R-MS)

"Bombing a sovereign nation for ill-defined reasons with vague objectives undermines the American stature in the world. The international respect and trust for America has diminished every time we casually let the bombs fly." -Representative Tom Delay (R-TX)

"Explain to the mothers and fathers of American servicemen that may come home in body bags why their son or daughter have to give up their life?" -Sean Hannity, Fox News, 4/6/99

"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." -Governor George W. Bush (R-TX)

What's going on? Have we entered some kind of bizzaro world? Sadly, no; we've only entered the world of politics (which of course is just one huge bizzaro world). The quotes above, and more like it that can be found here and here, were made by key Republicans (or pro-war "news" commentators) during the Clinton-supported 1999 intervention in Kosovo. Funny how times change when your party is in power.

The response from the right will no doubt be a reference to 9-11. Yes, times have changed since 1999. But the point is, why is good war strategy then not good stratey now? Why is it now unpatriotic to criticize the president about the handling of this war? Why aren't diplomacy and an exit stratefy important now? Somebody needs to be asking these clowns to explain themselves.

(Hat tip: Scott Scheule at Catallarchy)