In my previous article on the Cut-And-Run Straw Man, I mentioned a right-wing politician on CNN blaming the Democrats for suggesting we retreat from Iraq. Here is the quote, with supporting evidence to demonstrate what an outrageous lie that is:

Republican National Committee communications director Cliff May:

… But if you have a Democratic candidate who says what you heard Tom Harkin saying and Kennedy saying, which is essentially, we should cut and run, we should turn our back, we can get away from these — well, they’re implying that it is.

Here is what Harkin and Kennedy actually said:

Ted Kennedy:

“It’s not enough to go to the United Nations with a resolution. We must go with the right resolution, and it’s not clear that this administration is ready to swallow its pride and do that. Words don’t matter. We need deeds.”

“[I] had hoped to hear acknowledgment from the president of our failures in Iraq, the war on terrorism and the administration’s concrete plans for solving them with our allies and through the United Nations.”

“The president owes our troops and their families a plan before we give the administration a blank check.”

Tom Harkin:

“As we move ahead in the reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan, we must ensure that we think about the needs of people with disabilities up front and not later on.”

“This may not be Vietnam, but boy, it sure smells like it. And every time I see these bills coming down for the money, it’s costing like Vietnam, too.”

“We’ve got $13 billion a month for Iraq and Afghanistan, and we can’t fund [education]?”

There is not a single word that they have said that even hints, much less “implies,” at the idea that we should “cut and run” from Iraq. Harkin spoke of the underspending on Education and the overspending on the war–a result of “going it alone.” He never implied that we should desert Iraq–rather that if money can be found to fund the Iraq mess, we should be able to find the money for education as well.

Both he and Kennedy positively stated the need for funding our presence in Iraq and bringing in international assistance to help rebuild and police Iraq.

For May to claim that any of this is “cut and run,” even by implication, is a complete and utter fiction, a lie that is being repeated and amplified by the GOP.

These kinds of fabrications must be pointed out whenever and wherever they occur. Please pass on the word.