Zell Miller's Ten Questions about the Iraq war

[BurtWorm]

Courtesy of WP political correspondent Terry Neal, who quotes them in a column today tracing Miller's move to the right. Neal says Miller's right turn has been unsteady, though sure. He cites Miller's praise of Max Cleland and John Kerry in the past as evidence that his move had been largely tactical and political rather than one of conviction. And then he cites this list, which Miller included in an op-ed piece he wrote for the Post in 2002:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/politics/elections/2004/rnc/dispatches/

"(1) Even if Hussein has nukes, does he have the capability to reach New York or Los Angeles or Atlanta?

"(2) The old Soviet Union had thousands of nuclear missiles for decades, many of them capable of reaching our major cities, and yet we didn't get into a war with the Soviets. The president needs to explain why Iraq is different.

"(3) Who will join with us in this war and what share will they be willing to bear? (There was also some grumbling about our boys in Afghanistan 'just doing guard duty' to protect those warlords.)

"(4) What happens after we take out Hussein? How long will our soldiers be there? And, again, with whose help?

"(5) There is concern about too much deployment. We've got our soldiers stationed all over the world. Someone needs to bring us up to date on where they all are, why they are there and how long our commitment to keep them there is.

"(6) How does our plan in Iraq fit in with the whole Middle East question? How will it affect Israel? How will it affect our war on terrorism? Does taking Saddam out help or hurt that entire messy situation?

"(7) At Mary Ann's Restaurant, Tony is all right. But Putin is not. Why are we putting so much trust in him? Is he still with us in the war on terrorism, or was that just so much talk at a photo op?

"(8) The people at Mary Ann's know very well who fights our wars -- the kids from the middle-class and blue-collar homes of America. Kids like their grandchildren. They want to hear the president say that he knows and understands that.

"(9) Forgive my bluntness, but these folks also want to hear the president and the vice president say that this war is not about oil.

"(10) They also want to hear an explanation of why we didn't take care of this in the Persian Gulf War, and why it is on our doorstep again so soon."


These were good questions. Why did Miller not hold out for answers to them? It wasn't because of principle, that much is clear.