MoveOn vs. Democrats

OpinionJournal.com

Punishing Congressmen for reporting what they see in Iraq.

In the Hell Hath No Fury sweepstakes, groups like MoveOn.org are gearing up to take on a new set of perceived traitors in their midst--Democrats who have acknowledged some success from the troop surge in Iraq.

Chief among the targets is Washington Congressman Brian Baird, whose indiscretion was recognizing progress on the ground, despite having initially opposed the surge and having opposed the war in the first place. After a recent trip to Iraq, Mr. Baird said: "One of the things that gets very little attention is that virtually every other country I visited says it would be a mistake to pull out now."

We hope he took his flak jacket home from Baghdad. MoveOn is rolling out an ad this week in Mr. Baird's Washington district, in which a former soldier tells of being shot at in 2003 by the Iraqis he had fought to liberate and calls America's continued presence in the country "wrong, immoral and irresponsible." What does this have to do with the wisdom--or lack thereof--of the current strategy? Nada, which tells you something about MoveOn's honesty.

The group doesn't aim to engage in debate, but to punish and silence Democrats who dare to think for themselves. There's a pattern here: When John Dingell contradicted party orthodoxy on global warming and auto mileage standards this year, MoveOn ran ads in his Michigan district calling the 81-year-old Congressman "Dingellsaurus."

Mr. Baird is hardly alone in his assessment of progress in Iraq, even among Democrats. In the past month, Senate Democrats Carl Levin, Hillary Clinton, Dick Durbin, Bob Casey and Jack Reed have all acknowledged progress on the ground--though many still downplay the overall chances of success.

Representatives Keith Ellison (Minnesota) and Jerry McNerney (California) recently returned "impressed" by what they'd seen, though they were careful to temper their statements for any perceived optimism. After watching U.S. soldiers greet Iraqis in Arabic with "peace be upon you," Mr. Ellison reported that "they would respond back with smiles and waves" before quickly adding, "I don't want to overplay it." It's a measure of how far the antiwar left has moved the debate on Iraq that Mr. Ellison doesn't want to sound too enthusiastic about the chances that the U.S. might actually win.

Mr. Baird is so far showing no signs of backing down from his comments. In response to the MoveOn attacks, he said: "I believe I must speak and act based on what I believe is in the best interest of our nation regardless of political advertisements or partisan interests. Based on personal visits to the region, I believe the dynamics on the ground in Iraq are changing for the better and, while there are still multiple and serious challenges, and while the course is uncertain and dangerous, the changes I have seen warrant continued support of current actions through next spring."

Nice to see some political backbone in Washington. Meanwhile, MoveOn and its billionaire donors are out to solidify their ideological control of the Democratic Party, even if that means denying what is actually happening inside Iraq.