Those Candidate Generals

Liz Cheney, "Retreat Isn't an Option" points out unasked questions in the polls, and this:

Retreat from Iraq hurts us in the broader war. We are fighting the war on terrorism with allies across the globe, leaders such as Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan and Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan. Brave activists are also standing with us, fighting for freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the empowerment of women. They risk their lives every day to defeat the forces of terrorism. They can't win without us, and many of them won't continue to fight if they believe we're abandoning them. Politicians urging America to quit in Iraq should explain how we win the war on terrorism once we've scared all of our allies away.

And how do we save Darfur? How do we prevent the next holocaust? How do we make the world safe for our children and children around the world? And what about Iran?

For politicians to say they support our troops but not their mission reeks of the convenient lie, of rank political expediency:

American troops will win if we show even one-tenth the courage here at home that they show every day on the battlefield. And by the way, you cannot wish failure on our soldiers' mission and claim, at the same time, to be supporting the troops.

General Hillary and General Barack might bear that in mind.