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Gifts for all occasions in the Galleria! The "What is the Deal?" Deal-of-the-Week: Please donate to the Salvation Army for hurricane relief. December 4, 2005 My Kingdom for a Plan By Jan A. Larson Hillary Clinton is caught between a rock and a hard place. While she has been an open supporter of the war in Iraq, she now finds just about everyone else in the Democratic Party (a notable exception being Joe Lieberman) beating the drum for a hasty retreat. The Murtha-led charge to the left has left Hillary standing alone like the proverbial cheese. With presidential aspirations, Clinton cannot afford to be seen as a George W. Bush in woman's clothes so now finds herself in the unenviable position of having to maintain her hawkish position or risk becoming a flip-flopper while trying to appear Pelosi-like to the left wing of the party. Taking a page from John Kerry's battle plan (a winner to be sure), Clinton told a gathering of Democrats in Kentucky that "The time has come for the administration to stop serving up platitudes and present a plan for finishing this war with success and honor." Hello, Hillary. Is anyone in here? I just so happens that Clinton's demand for a plan came two days after President Bush articulated the plan for Iraq that has been the plan since 2003. Clinton continued, "I reject a rigid timetable that the terrorists can exploit, and I reject an open timetable that has no ending attached to it. "Instead, I think we need a plan for winning and concluding this war, and the president can begin by taking responsibilities for the false assurances, faulty evidence and mismanagement of this war." It is really too bad that Hillary didn't take the time to listen to the President's address or at least read it. If she had, she might not have made such a fool of herself. I really don't know how much clearer the President could have presented the plan for Iraq. As per Hillary's wishes, it does not establish a rigid timetable and it clearly does define an ending. Specifically, the President's plan states that in the long term, victory will occur when Iraq has defeated the terrorists and neutralized the insurgency, when Iraq is peaceful, democratic and secure and when Iraq is a partner in the global war on terror. As the President's plan states, there will be no single event such as a surrender or final battle that defines the end of the war. Make no mistake; there will be an American presence in Iraq for many decades to come just as there has been an American presence in Europe since World War II and in Korea for the past fifty years but that doesn't mean that victory has not been achieved. The Murthas, Pelosis, Kerrys and Kennedys who seem to think that the United States can just pack up the humvees and ammo, bring the troops home and we can all live happily ever after are living in a fantasy world. When they call for the immediate withdrawal from Iraq, they are calling for immediate surrender. However, when the majority of their constituencies are living in that same fantasy world, such a call will certainly help them achieve their personal goals - reelection. Hillary's goal is also an election victory, but she cannot be elected to the presidency without winning her party's nomination. She also cannot be elected to the presidency without convincing the majority Americans that she isn't a left-wing fanatic. With left-wing fanatics seemingly taking over greater control of the Democratic Party on almost a daily basis, it may be that Hillary's dual objectives will impossible to achieve. In the meantime, she walks the tightrope trying to appeal to both Democratic Party fanatics and mainstream America. Unfortunately for Hillary, she is doing neither. For that, we should all be thankful. -- Send feedback to the author. The "What is the Deal?" column will appears weekly on the Pie of Knowledge website. Guest submissions are welcome and encouraged. To submit an article to "What is the Deal?" click here. To subscribe to the "What is the Deal?" mailing list and receive early notification when a new column is available, click here. The Pie of Knowledge will never, ever divulge email addresses to any third party for any reason unless so ordered by a court of law. Contributions to the Pie of Knowledge are greatly appreciated. 
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