Sandy Rios' Idea of Culture

The "Culture Campaign" blog that originally got me started writing this blog is part of an organization headed by Sandy Rios who hosts a talk show on a local Christian radio station. Sandy is regular contributor to Fox News and the former head of Concerned Women for America. Although I been writing about apologetics a lot lately, I would like respond to some comments I heard Sandy make today on her radio show which I found offensively dishonest.

Sandy accused Nancy Pelosi of lying because she described the war in Iraq as a "total failure." Sandy claimed that is was this kind of dishonesty that caused her to get upset with liberals and leftists, not policy differences. She was angry because liberals aren't proud that we are "winning the war" like she is. Along the way, she claimed that liberals delighted when American casualties rise in Iraq because they see it as an opportunity to gain power. As an aside, she also asserted that the Chicago Tribune is one of the most liberal leftists newspapers in the country despite the fact that it has never endorsed a Democrat for the Presidency.

It is Sandy that is lying about Iraq.

The war in Iraq is a failure. There were no weapons of mass destruction. Iraq is not a shining example of democracy. The Middle East is much less stable as a result of the war. Countless innocent Iraqi civilians have lost their lives. The United States is less secure. The United States is less respected. The United States wasted huge sums of money. The U.S. military has been strained to the breaking point and is no position to respond to other threats. The war in Iraq has resulted in the loss of gains that were made in Afghanistan. The war has increased the influence of Iran. Oil is pushing $100 per barrel.

The fact that the military and security situation in Iraq is slightly less horrible than it was before the surge does not make the war a success. It may mean that the situation there will be slightly less disastrous than it otherwise would have been when we leave. The war has been a failure in conception, execution and result.