The Washington Post excoriates Democrats for their irresponsibility regarding the rebuilding of Iraq and their intransigence in supporting proper funding:

But political pressure doesn't excuse irresponsibility, and what's emerging in the Democratic Party is a gaping responsibility gap...On the wrong side is the rest of the Democratic field. Sens. John F. Kerry (Mass.) and John Edwards (N.C.) say they won't vote for the funding because Mr. Bush hasn't come up with enough of a long-term plan or done enough to get allies on board. This righteous position may make them, or their voters, feel better, but the security of U.S. troops and the long-term interests of both Iraq and the United States still depend on improving Iraqi daily life.

The candidates do not seem to realize that the rebuilding of Iraq is crucial to the overall effort to eliminate terrorism, and that trying to do it on the cheap will only make things worse. We cannot walk away from Iraq now regardless of whether people think the war was a good idea or not. That these nominees ignore this makes me nervous that, faced with terrorist attacks, they would fall back to the old pattern of bluster and retreat that brought us 9/11.

However, at least they've managed to have a position:

Most astonishing is the response from retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark, whose position is that he's taking no position on the grounds that he's running for president, not Congress.

Rebuilding Iraq is, for the time being, the highest-priority national security and foreign policy issue and likely will remain so past the election, and General Clark has no position on what we're supposed to do about it? As the Post asks -- This is leadership? Why is he running for President, anyway?

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