When Chickenhawks Attack...

They buy television time:

The Republican National Committee will begin broadcasting television ads in key markets nationally this weekend that suggest Sen. Harry Reid is "playing partisan politics" with the war in Iraq.

The 60-second ads are part of a national campaign by the RNC to push back against increasingly vocal criticism from Democrats about the Bush administration's policy in Iraq.

The ad, which RNC sources said will air in Las Vegas, provides Reid's office number and tells viewers to call the Nevada senator and "tell him to stop playing partisan politics and stand behind our troops."

Hmmm...the administration lied about intelligence, deliberately scheduled a vote to coincide with the 2002 off-year election, forced out weapons inspectors in Iraq who might put a damper on the WMD snipe hunt, didn't bother to provide adequate vehicle or body armor for soldiers on the ground, and STILL hasn't articulated a plan beyond what they've got, i.e., Operation Bleed the Military Dry...and they're worried about "politics"?

Reid has his own response:

"Instead of giving our troops a plan for success or answering the serious questions of the American people, they've decided to start up the Rove/Cheney attack machine," Reid said Thursday on the Senate floor. "We're at war. We need a commander in chief, not a campaigner in chief. We need leadership from the White House, not more white-washing of the very serious issues confronting us in Iraq."

TPM has more on the only fight you'll ever see chickenhawks engage in, as does Mark Schmitt.

When the going gets tough--chickenhawks squawk.