Jack Kingston

(Photo courtesy John Carrington/Savannah Morning News)

Yesterday, Major General Rick Lynch and the Special Troops Batallion of Fort Stewart were greated with a welcome home ceremony.  3rd ID troops were deployed as part of General Petraeu’s surge and did and excellent job.  According to General Lynch:

“We killed or captured 6,000 insurgents,” he said. “We went from 25 attacks a day to less than two … and we turned what was called the ‘Triangle of Death’ into a triangle of life.” (Savannah Morning News, 6/3/08)

The 3rd ID is the pride of Georgia’s First District and we’re all so glad to see them home.  Our thoughts and prayers remain for the safe return of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team and the 4th Brigade who continue their mission in Iraq.

General Lynch also notes the three biggest challenges facing progress in Iraq:

“Lynch said the three biggest threats to success in Iraq remain: Sunni extremists, traditionally affiliated with al-Qaida; Shiite extremists; and Iranian fighters influencing the insurgency.  ‘These are people who for whatever reason, are trying to stop progress in Iraq,’ Lynch said.”

In year two of their majority, Democrats are again showing that they just can’t lead the nation.  According to today’s CongressDaily:

“Key lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are resigned to the idea that few, if any, of the 12 FY09 appropriations bills will be separately enacted and fear they will be packaged into an ombibus measure…”

That means that, yet again, hundreds of billions of dollars will be rolled into a single bill no doubt drafted in the dead of night behind closed doors and that members will be forced to vote on a measure they haven’t even had a chance to read.  Take Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s feelings on the recently crafted supplemental appropriations bill (from the same article):

“Even some House Democrats are upset about how the appropriations process has been handled…’It is not the way I want to do business,” said veteran appropriator Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio.”

It’s time for Democrats to get in the drivers’ seat and take the wheel before we go any further off course than we already are.  The American people deserve better.

Incase you haven’t seen it yet, the Washington Post has an editorial today about the progress being made in Iraq.  A highlight:

“While Washington’s attention has been fixed elsewhere, military analysts have watched with astonishment as the Iraqi government and army have gained control for the first time of the port city of Basra and the sprawling Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, routing the Shiite militias that have ruled them for years and sending key militants scurrying to Iran.”

“..[T]he rapidly improving conditions should allow U.S. commanders to make some welcome adjustments – and it ought to mandate an already-overdue rethinking by the ‘this-war-is-lost’ caucus in Washington, including Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).”

We’re making progress in Iraq and it’s time to stop handicapping our troops with defeatist messages and bickering here at home.

The full editorial can be found here.