What do we Americans agree on?

I find this very interesting.

Michael Smerconish presents a set of "admissions" that both sides of the current arguments should agree on, allowing contention to focus on those things we actually disagree on. This is a technique used by lawyers prior to a trial to focus the trial on the issues in contention. Here is his list:

Admit or Deny:

1. 9/11 was the work of radical Islam.
2. Post 9/11, there was a consensus in America to be "forward leaning" with regard to radical Islam, meaning, to be pre-emptive if necessary to protect us against further attack.
3. Iraq played no role in the events of 9/11.
4. Iraq was nevertheless perceived by American and foreign military and intelligence operations to pose a threat based principally upon the belief that Saddam Hussein possessed WMD.
5. Hussein’s perceived possession of WMD was the primary reason advanced by the Bush Administration in support of the invasion of Iraq.
6. It is now apparent that Hussein had no WMD, meaning, the Administration’s predicate for going to war was faulty.
7. Hussein was, nevertheless, an evil SOB.
8. The fact that the Administration was wrong does not mean that the President lied to us concerning WMD.
9. The war in Iraq is going poorly.
10. It is entirely possible that when all is said and done, we will have facilitated the replacement of Hussein with a leadership regime that is beholden to Iran and unfriendly toward the United States, albeit, one that does not represent the evilness of Hussein nor the type of threat that he could have become.
11. Leaving Iraq immediately would embolden insurgents and terrorists.
12. Our presence in Iraq provides a rallying point for the insurgency and the radical Islamists.
13. Leaving Iraq as soon as possible must be our goal.
14. It is time for the Administration to set a timetable to leave Iraq.
15. It is reasonable to assume that many national guardsmen who would otherwise have been in America, and in a position to respond to Hurricane Katrina, are instead in Iraq.
16. The President did not cause Hurricane Katrina.
17. The immediate federal response to the hurricane was poor.
18. The immediate response of the City of New Orleans was itself inadequate.
19. Among the victims in New Orleans, the worst hit was the poor, most of who are black.
20. The City of New Orleans has a black mayor.
21. Those who accuse the federal government of “racism” in its poor response have been silent with regard to New Orleans’ black mayor.
22. Blacks were the worst hit because as a group, they were the least economically able to cope with the emergency, and were least likely to have access to transportation or alternative accommodations; many simply refused to leave.
23. A person who steals food during Hurricane Katrina in the absence of relief from local, state or federal governments, is doing what is necessary for his survival.
24. A person who steals a flat screen in the midst of Hurricane Katrina is a looter.
25. Four years removed from 9/11 we do not appear prepared to cope with the aftermath of a large-scale attack.
26. Four years removed from 9/11 we remain vulnerable to attack by radical Islam because political correctness has blinded us to the commonalities of those who seek to kills us.

I am not sure I totally accept every "admission." In particular, I find item 5 to be misleading. While WMD was the reason publicly given for invading Iraq, it is my opinion that Dick Cheney and Bush wanted to invade Iraq for other reasons and either conconcted or exaggerated the threat of WMD as a public excuse to play power politics for what were really other reasons. Needless to say, I do not accept item 8 at all.

I don't think the evidence exists to support item 18 at this time.

Except for those three caveats, I would say this is a pretty good exercise.