The Soft On Terror Left

Several posts caught my eye this morning, with each discussing the current state of the left/Democrats as a group/party unwilling to stand and defend America.  There's this post on Powerline, by deacon, discussing a Ron Brownstein article in the LA times, this post also from Powerline by deacon discussing the Moore side of the Democratic Party, and this from Ace of Spades.  David Corn is the Washington editor of The Nation and writes regarding liberals and terror on tompaine.com.

Brownstein notes it's hard for Democrats to support the Iraq war if they don't agree that it is an appropriate avenue in the war on terror.  He also feels it would be easier for Democrats to be harder liners if they were in power (see hypothetical below).  Deacon notes the following, however:

But when the Democrats consistently favor the course of action that seems to take the softest line against terrorism, it becomes difficult to argue that the perception that they are softer than Republicans on terrorism stems from the fact that they are out of power. It seems more likely that the reason why it's so difficult for Democrats to define a "fighting faith" for resisting totalitarianism is that they are averse to fighting and perhaps not that averse to totalitarianism.

It's definitely worth reading each of the posts, and also Mr. Corn's piece, as it does give a view into the mindset of the anti-war left.  The counter to Mr. Corn's piece can be read here.

The bottom line, in my view, can be found in a little hypothetical experiment.  And be honest here: If you are an anti-war Democrat/liberal ask yourself if, after 9-11, with Saddam's use of chemical weapons in the past, considering the ineffectiveness of the UNSC resolutions in reining in Saddam, you would support war in Iraq if Bill Clinton had chosen this course in the terror war during a third term.  If the answer is yes you need to re-examine the rationale for your anti-war position.

And if you are, for instance, a Senator who voted for the war and later came out squarely against it, but would not have done so had it been a war under a Democratic administration, then you really have no defensible position.

UPDATE: More here from Tim Blair on Mr. Moores misguided missives.  Numbers?  You want numbers?  Read the comments, they tell the tale well.  Via Instapundit.