Antiwar Lawmakers Face Their Own Words in the Green Zone

Many antiwar types love to have it both ways. The deride our efforts at home on the floor of Congress or in TV interviews, and then they go to Iraq and expect our forces to treat them like gods. Somebody in Iraq has decided to let our forces know exactly where these visiting congressman stand on the war, and the antiwar lefties don't like it:

The sheets of paper seemed to be everywhere the lawmakers went in the Green Zone, distributed to Iraqi officials, U.S. officials and uniformed military of no particular rank. So when Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) asked a soldier last weekend just what he was holding, the congressman was taken aback to find out.

In the soldier's hand was a thumbnail biography, distributed before each of the congressmen's meetings in Baghdad, which let meeting participants such as that soldier know where each of the lawmakers stands on the war. "Moran on Iraq policy," read one section, going on to cite some the congressman's most incendiary statements, such as, "This has been the worst foreign policy fiasco in American history."

The bio of Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher (D-Calif.) -- "TAU (rhymes with 'now')-sher," the bio helpfully relates -- was no less pointed, even if she once supported the war and has taken heat from liberal Bay Area constituents who remain wary of her position. "Our forces are caught in the middle of an escalating sectarian conflict in Iraq, with no end in sight," the bio quotes.

"This is beyond parsing. This is being slimed in the Green Zone," Tauscher said of her bio.

I'm having a hard time understanding how having your own words repeated back to you constitutes "sliming". If the congressmen are so alarmed to hear their own statements, perhaps they should consider the impact their words have before they open their big mouths.