Battleland

GOP Silence on the Wars 2.0

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We were perplexed following Wednesday’s supposed “foreign policy night” at the Republican convention that scant mention was made of the nation’s wars and those who have fought, and are fighting, them: “It is amazing that after more than a decade of war, and 6,593 American dead (2,107 in Afghanistan and Operation Enduring Freedom; 4,487 in Iraq), the political party that spearheaded both wars is so silent on them now.”

So Battleland was taken aback last night when GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney was also silent on that score (not sure having Clint Eastwood say more about the war than the party’s presidential nominee is a good thing, but it is what it is). Frankly, we don’t have in it us to rewrite Thursday’s post for Friday. Amazingly, Bill Kristol – Republican uber-hawk and spark plug for America’s military engine – just did it for us. He even echoed our headline: Wars? What wars? with his What war? hed:

...in his speech accepting his party’s nomination to be commander in chief, Mitt Romney said not a word about the war in Afghanistan. Nor did he utter a word of appreciation to the troops fighting there, or to those who have fought there. Nor for that matter were there thanks for those who fought in Iraq, another conflict that went unmentioned.

Leave aside the question of the political wisdom of Romney’s silence, and the opportunities it opens up for President Obama next week. What about the civic propriety of a presidential nominee failing even to mention, in his acceptance speech, a war we’re fighting and our young men and women who are fighting it? Has it ever happened that we’ve been at war and a presidential nominee has ignored, in this kind of major and formal speech, the war and our warriors?

Kristol clear. Full thing here.