Mehlman says Democrats would 'surrender' terror war

Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman denounced Democratic Party leaders Friday, saying they would "surrender" in the fight against terrorism should they gain control of Congress in November.

"America faces a critical question," Mehlman told the committee's summer meeting in Minneapolis. "Will we elect leaders who recognize we're at war and want to use every tool to win it, or politicians who would surrender important tools we need to win?"

Mehlman attacked specific Democrats, saying: "As Iran works for a nuclear weapon, do we leave every option on the table or do we surrender the use of force, as Harry Reid proposed? As foreign jihadists call into the United States, do we use NSA technology to stop sleeper cells before they hit us, or do we surrender the use of this technology as Nancy Pelosi and Howard Dean would have us do?"

Reid, of Nevada, is the Senate Democratic leader; Pelosi, of California, is the party's leader in the House; and, former Vermont Governor Dean is the party's chairman.

Mehlman also criticized "the longest-serving Democrat in the House," Michigan Representative John Dingell, for saying that, while he condemns Hezbollah's violence, he did "not take sides for or against" the militant Muslim group in its fight against Israel.

"This important debate is not about who is more patriotic or who loves our country more," Mehlman said. "It's about which leaders understand the threat we face and have the clarity, purpose and strategies to defeat it."

Pattern of Attack

This is not the first time a Republican leader has argued that Republicans would more effectively defend America from terrorism than Democrats.

On Jan. 20, at the RNC's winter meeting in Washington, White House chief political strategist Karl Rove said: "At the core, we are dealing with two parties that have fundamentally different views on national security. Republicans have a post- 9/11 worldview and many Democrats have a pre-9/11 worldview. That doesn't make them unpatriotic—not at all. But it does make them wrong—deeply and profoundly and consistently wrong."

Mehlman, who as party chairman does not have any official role in shaping U.S. foreign policy, nonetheless said the U.S. might have to use force to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

"We believe and hope that strong diplomacy will prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon," he said. "But we must remember: The only thing worse than having to use force would be a nuclear-armed Iran."

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