By Oliver North
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Two weeks ago, a Democrat plan to unseat the
president of the United States was discovered. What was unusual was the plan
was not found in the office of James Carville, Howard Dean or even the
Democrat National Committee, but in the offices of the Senate Select
Committee on Intelligence, apparently written by a Democrat staffer on
the committee.
The document, as detailed last week in this column, outlines a
political plan to use the Senate Intelligence Committee to ramp up opposition
to the war on terror, the president and his administration. Former Sen.
Bob Kerrey, D-Neb., a decorated war veteran, who once served as vice
chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, called the
attack plan "cynical" and "destructive," and warned that such partisanship
will hurt our long-term national security efforts. Sen. Zell Miller went
even further. "If this is not treason," the Georgia Democrat said,
"it's the first cousin of treason." Al Gore called it "trivial."
The memo suggests that Democrats "pull the trigger" on their plan next
year -- high political season. But the Bush haters couldn't wait --
they are already in full attack mode.
Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., introduced a formal resolution asking the
president to give the Bronx Cheer to Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld and
send him packing. Immediately, 25 of Charlie's pals in the House
notified him that they, too, wanted a piece of Rumsfeld's scalp as treasure
to parade before their rabid supporters. Rangel and his merry band of
head hunters accuse Rumsfeld of "gross mismanagement," "repeated
miscalculations," a "lack of sensitivity" and having "misled the American
people" -- everything but stealing food from Iraqi children.
Among those accusing Rumsfeld of gross negligence are such Democrat
luminaries as Reps. Pete Stark, D-Calif., who several months ago tried to
goad Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee into a fistfight; Jim
McDermott, D-Wash., who provided propaganda for Saddam's government
with a visit to Iraq last October; Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, who believes
his proposed "Department of Peace" is the panacea to the world's many
dangers; and Barbara Lee, D-Calif., the only member of the House who
voted against going to war in Afghanistan and responding to the murder of
3,000 of our fellow Americans. Thankfully, these members of Congress do
not constitute our first line of defense against terrorism.
When Democrats like Rangel were supporting the deployment of U.S.
troops to places like Haiti and Bosnia, they claimed politics should stop
at the water's edge. But Rangel and his cohorts are fanning
anti-American flames in Europe and the Middle East by performing such a cheap
political stunt at a time when our Italian allies suffered losses at the
hands of terrorists and as America's commander in chief prepares to travel
to London this week.
Rangel is but one of many Democrats who have stepped up their
criticism of the president since the memo surfaced two weeks ago. Former Vice
President Al Gore accused Bush of "deception," "weakening" America,
"exploit(ing) public fears for partisan political gain," and "recklessly
putting our country in grave and unnecessary danger."
Although extreme and irresponsible rhetoric such as Gore's is
intellectually and morally bankrupt, it is being bankrolled by billionaire
financier George Soros. Well known for channeling millions of dollars into
pro-abortion and drug-legalization causes, Soros is now bullish on the
Bush haters and the renewed vigor they are showing since the
Intelligence Committee memo was discovered.
In the same week that President Bush instructed his point man in Iraq,
Paul Bremmer, to hasten the return of sovereignty to a liberated Iraqi
people, Soros gave a public relations coup to Al Qaeda and other
terrorist organizations by announcing that "America, under Bush, is a danger
to the world." Such comments easily put Soros in the running for
chairman of the Blame America First Club. What will clinch the title for him
is his declaration that the defeat of Bush in 2004 is "the central
focus of my life."
He vows to spend his vast resources to stop the "supremacist ideology"
of the Bush administration, which he compares to the rhetoric and
thinking that gave rise to Nazism. In recent months, Soros has given tens of
millions of dollars to Democrat-affiliated organizations that are
committed to obstructing, attacking and defeating the president.
Clearly the Bush haters have been emboldened by the presidential
attack plan -- which has yet to be repudiated by any Democrat on the Senate
Intelligence Committee -- and they are already "pulling the trigger."
In so doing, "they have decided to put partisanship ahead of our
nation's security," as Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., stated.
While Senate staff members, angry Democrat congressmen and liberal
billionaires continue their partisan tirades, brave Americans are in
harm's way in a war against terrorists that we dare not lose. And try as
they will to exploit the situation, Bush has vowed that we will not
abandon our mission in Iraq.
"The United States will complete our work in Iraq and Afghanistan,"
Bush said, and "democracy in those two countries will succeed, and that
success will be a great milestone in the history of liberty."
Yes it will. It's just a shame that so many Democrats are willing to
sacrifice that victory on the altar of politics.
