"slow-bleed" plan

The catchphrase "slow-bleed" plan&mdash;also referred to as the "slow-bleed" strategy&mdash;is being employed in political attacks by the leadership of the Republican Party and conservative media and bloggers to describe the Democrat's exit strategy from the war in Iraq.

First Use
According to Media Matters for America, Ryan Lizza, senior editor of The New Republic, in a February 13, 2007, appearance on MSNBC's Scarborough Country, "was apparently the first to use the 'slow-bleed' construction to characterize the reported strategy of the House Democratic leadership." 


 * LIZZA: "And look, they're reading the same polls that we're all reading, and they realize that the American public doesn't quite -- there's not a big majority for defunding the troops, so it doesn't look like the Democratic leadership is going to go there. Instead, what you're going to have is a strategy led by Murtha, which is going to be to limit the number of troops available to President Bush by putting some restrictions on what troops will be allowed to be brought over to Iraq.


 * "So that's the strategy that the -- that's the sort of two-part strategy: first, this non-binding resolution, and then restricting what troops Bush can use. So, it's a sort of -- a slow bleeding of our ability to do much more in Iraq." (Emphasis added.)

Enter The Politico
On February 15, 2007, John Bresnahan wrote in the online political publication The Politico:


 * "Top House Democrats, working in concert with anti-war groups, have decided against using congressional power to force a quick end to U.S. involvement in Iraq, and instead will pursue a slow-bleed strategy designed to gradually limit the administration's options.


 * "Led by Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Pa., and supported by several well-funded anti-war groups, the coalition's goal is to limit or sharply reduce the number of U.S. troops available for the Iraq conflict, rather than to openly cut off funding for the war itself." (Emphasis added.)

RNC follows up
The Republican National Committee (RNC) "followed with its press release, and numerous media then attributed the term to Democrats or quoted Republicans doing so without noting that it was not the creation of the Democrats," Media Matters reported March 1, 2007.

Bresnahan's article was cited February 15, 2007, by Mike Duncan, RNC Chairman, in a call-to-action&mdash;a.k.a. fund-raising&mdash;letter on "The Pelosi-Murtha 'Slow-Bleed' Strategy" to members.

The Politico clarifies
"The Democratic plan was characterized in The Politico as the 'slow-bleed strategy,' which was not a term used by any Democrats or the anti-war groups supporting their efforts.

"The RNC, however, attributed the phrase to Democrats, and it was used in their e-mail alert," John Bresnahan wrote February 16, 2007.

"The National Republican Congressional Committee and Senate Republicans are also preparing to use the 'slow-bleed' line in their own news releases, slamming Murtha and the Democrats," Bresnahan wrote.

WaPo picks up thread
Jonathan Weisman wrote February 15, 2007, in the Washington Post:


 * "The Murtha plan, based on existing military guidelines, includes a stipulation that Army troops who have already served in Iraq must be granted two years at home before an additional deployment, Marines must be given 14 months at home, and any troops sent to Iraq must be those deemed fully trained and equipped under existing military standards. The idea is to slowly choke off the war by stopping the deployment of troops from units that have been badly degraded by four years of combat." (Emphasis added.)

GOPUSA pitches in
"The Congressional Democrats are actually participating in their own unconventional, asymmetric tactics -- a type of political 'guerrilla warfare' -- that's designed to slowly grind down the Iraq war effort and, by extension, our military personnel. It's been dubbed the 'slow bleed'. Al Qaeda would be proud," Carol Devine-Molin wrote February 26, 2007, for GOPUSA.

The Politico editor confesses
On February 28, 2007, John F. Harris, editor of The Politico, confessed "I am the author of the Democratic Party's 'slow-bleed strategy' for ending the war in Iraq" and that he "had nothing to do with the details" of Murtha's plan "crafted to use the appropriations process to limit President Bush's options for mobilizing more forces in Iraq." 

"That's where I come in," Harris wrote. "'Slow bleed' is my phrase. Murtha had nothing to do with it. Neither did John Bresnahan, the reporter whose name was on the Politico story in which the 'slow-bleed strategy' made its debut." (Emphasis added.)

Additionally, Harris wrote:


 * "If you Google 'slow bleed' and 'Murtha,' you get nearly 200,000 hits. Nexis recorded more than a hundred stories in the days after Bresnahan's article that used the phrase 'slow bleed.'


 * "'Slow bleed' was featured on CNN and on the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal. My former newspaper, The Washington Post, used the phrase the other day as if it were an established part of Washington lexicon, needing neither attribution nor explanation. 'Slow bleed' also played a starring role in a parade of House floor speeches by Republicans denouncing Democrats, and in a fundraising letter from Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan. 'Slow-bleed is exactly the right name for this incredibly irresponsible and dangerous strategy,' he wrote.


 * "Like many others who weighed in, Duncan incorrectly stated that 'slow-bleed' was the name that Democrats were using to describe their strategy."

Too little, too late: damage already done
"But the damage had already been done -- conservative bloggers were shouting 'slow bleed'from the rooftops, and congressional Republicans were dropping it into their speeches," Simon Maloy wrote March 7, 2007, in The Politico.

"Still," Tim Grieve wrote February 28, 2007, in Salon's War Room, "Harris isn't entirely apologetic, suggesting that his 'snappier' take on Bresnahan's original lead wasn't so wrong in the 'context.' That 'context,' he says, is that 'what is slowly bleeding away is the administration's political support to keep fighting the war.'"

Writing on another matter, Dan Froomkin commented February 28, 2007, in the Washington Post: "Interestingly, the Politico is turning out to be not just a chronicler, but a source, of Republican talking points."

Hunter's critique
UPI reported March 9, 2007, that Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee and "one of the two conservative candidates currently in the running for the GOP's 2008 presidential nomination", was "critical of the new funding proposal for the conflict in Iraq that was unveiled [March 6, 2007,] by congressional Democrats. ... The Democrats' 'readiness proposal amounts to a slow bleed strategy,' Hunter said."

Cheney picks up the "slow bleed" meme
Vice President Dick Cheney "accused anti-war Congressmen of helping America's enemies by calling for deadlines and funding restrictions," the Journal of the Turkish Weekly reported March 14, 2007.

Cheney was quoted from his March 12, 2007, speech before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) annual convention:


 * "When members of Congress speak not of victory but of time limits, deadlines or other arbitrary measures, they're telling the enemy simply to watch the clock and wait us out ...


 * "When members of Congress pursue an anti-war strategy that's been called slow bleed, they're not supporting the troops, they're undermining them."

Blunt attack
Democrats "announce[d] a timetable for wholesale retreat, declare[d] their intention to hand over command-and-control authority in Iraq to 535 commanders in chief on Capitol Hill and, already on a roll, float[ed] the bizarre idea to close the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and import hundreds of the most insidious elements of the worldwide terrorist network to the United States to process like common criminals," Roy Blunt of Missouri, the Republican Whip in the U.S. House of Representatives, wrote March 14, 2007, in the Washington Times.

Blunt added: "Democrats will attempt to follow up that performance by bringing their plan to committee for executing their slow-bleed strategy in Iraq. But what we understand of the product now is enough to tell me their plan would yield disastrous results." (Emphasis added.)

Commentary
"Right wingers will say and do anything to cast Democrats as being against our people in uniform, especially those in harm’s way. It’s a desperate effort to eke some political gain out of the illegal, unnecessary, no-win war mess they’ve made in Iraq," S.W. Anderson commented February 19, 2007, at OH!pinion.com.

"Their slow-bleed red herring has been posed as a question and as a statement on CNN, naturally.

"Its been falsely attributed to Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"It’s been heralded on legions of right-wing blogs.

"It’s as authentic as Saddam’s yellow cake from Niger, as valid as President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and then-national security advisor Condoleezza Rice’s claims about imminent danger of a mushroom cloud from Iraq’s nuclear weapons stockpile.

"It’s par for the course — and refreshingly, it doesn’t seem to be working," Anderson wrote.

"SLOW-BLEED SLOW-BLEED SLOW-BLEED SLOW-BLEED SLOW-BLEED SLOW-BLEED SLOW-BLEED SLOW-BLEED SLOW-BLEED SLOW-BLEED SLOW-BLEED SLOW-BLEED SLOW-BLEED SLOW-BLEED SLOW-BLEED SLOW-BLEED SLOW-BLEED SLOW-BLEED SLOW-BLEED SLOW-BLEED. ... And, oh yeah...SLOW-BLEED.

"Just like every other talking point and Big Lie the White House and RNC try to shoot out there as Democratic policy, after you hear it long enough, you realize it means nothing ... except that the Republic[an]s are out of bullets," Steve Young wrote February 20, 2007, for OpEdNews.

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * Congressional actions to end the Iraq War in the 110th Congress
 * echo chamber
 * Operation Iraqi Freedom/Related SourceWatch Resources
 * war propaganda

February 2007

 * Transcript: Scarborough Country for Feb. 13, MSNBC, February 13, 2007. Host: Joe Scarborough; Guests: Joe Klein, Katrina vanden Heuvel, Ryan Lizza.
 * "Democrats Plan 'Slow-Bleed' Strategy," Political Bulletin / U.S. News & World Report, February 14, 2007. Cites The Politico.
 * Clifford D. May, "Bleed the Troops," The Corner / The National Review Online, February 14, 2007. Cites/links to The Politico.
 * John Bresnahan, "House Democrats' New Strategy: Force Slow End to War," The Politico, February 15, 2007.
 * "Letter from RNC Chairman Mike Duncan On The Pelosi-Murtha 'Slow-Bleed' Strategy," Republican National Committee / GOP.org, February 15, 2007.
 * Jonathan Weisman, "GOP Looks Beyond War Measure to Fight on Funding," Washington Post, February 15, 2007.
 * "Politico's baseless, charged rhetoric fueling Republican attacks on Democrats," Media Matters for America, February 15, 2007.
 * John Bresnahan, "Democrats Push New Strategy to Block Troop Increase," The Politico, February 16, 2007.
 * Jonathan Stein, "John Murtha's 'Slow Bleed' Plan to End the Iraq War Explained," MoJoBlog/Mother Jones, February 16, 2007.
 * "Following Politico clarification, will the media eschew 'slow-bleed' when reporting Dem's Iraq policy?" Media Matters for America, February 16, 2007.
 * "NY Times quoted Lott on 'horrif[ying]' 'slow bleed' term without noting its origin," Media Matters for America, February 16, 2007.
 * re Jeff Zeleny and Robin Toner, "Democratic Leader Gambles That Weekend. Detention Could End Senate’s Squabbling on Iraq," New York Times, February 16, 2007.


 * "CNN onscreen text: "Slow Bleed Strategy? Iraq Funding Debate," Media Matters for America, February 16, 2007.
 * S.W. Anderson, "'Slow bleed' propaganda proves anemic," OH!pinion.com, February 19, 2007.
 * BarbinMD, "The Murtha Smear Is On," Daily Kos, February 19, 2007.
 * Patrick O'Connor and Josh Kraushaar, "Conservatives Target GOP War Critics in Congress," The Politico, February 20, 2007.
 * William Kristol, "The Democrats' 'Slow-Bleed' Strategy," The Weekly Standard (FrontPageMag.com), February 20, 2007.
 * Steve Young, "Slow Bleed -- The Latest Republican Catchphrase: What Does It Mean?" OpEdNews, February 20, 2007.
 * "Numerous media outlets attribute 'slow bleed' rhetoric to Democrats," Media Matters for America, February 20, 2007.
 * Marie Jon, "The Democrats Slow-Bleed Our Troops," The Conservative Voice, February 24, 2007.
 * Jack Kelly, "Quandary in Iraq. A 'slow bleed' strategy to stop the surge probably would backfire on the Democrats," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 25, 2007.
 * "Jack Kelly column repeats 'slow bleed' rhetoric, results of dismissed poll," Media Matters for America, February 26, 2007.
 * Carol Devine-Molin, "Islamo-Fascists And The Political Far-Left, Perfect Together," GOPUSA, February 26, 2007.
 * Paul Bedard, "Senate GOP Expands 'Slow Bleed' Theme," U.S. News & World Report, February 26, 2007.
 * Randy Hall, "Dems' 'New Direction' for National Guard: Away From Iraq," Cybercast News Service, February 28, 2007.
 * John F. Harris, "An Editor's Confession: I'm the Source of 'Slow Bleed'," The Politico, February 28, 2007.
 * Dan Froomkin, "Rove Wishes," White House Watch/Washington Post, February 28, 2007. Scroll down to section on page 5.
 * Tim Grieve, "The end of 'slow bleed'? Don't count on it," War Room/Salon, February 28, 2007. Subscription or free preview required.

March 2007

 * "CNS attributed 'slow-bleed' label to Dems 12 days after Politico admitted authorship," Media Matters for America, March 1, 2007.
 * Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), "Guest Opinion: Trip by Kyl to Middle East reinforces his stance on war in Iraq. 'I am convinced, now more than ever, that a 'slow bleed' strategy to end the war by choking off funds and reinforcements is irresponsible.'," Tucson Citizen, March 5, 2007.
 * Simon Maloy, "Is Politico a GOP Shill?" The Politico, March 7, 2007.
 * Staff, "Media Matters Response," The Politico, March 7, 2007.
 * "Hunter slams Dem Iraq funding plan," UPI, March 9, 2007.
 * Faiz Shakir, "Boehner And Putnam Call For 'Real Debate' On Iraq, Then Criticize Congress For Taking Real Action," Think Progress, March 10, 2007.
 * Ron Brynaert, "Cheney tells AIPAC that Congressional antiwar strategy is 'undermining' US troops," The Raw Story, March 12, 2007.
 * "Remarks by Vice President Cheney at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee 2007 Policy Conference," PRNewswire, March 12, 2007.
 * Roy Blunt, "Throwing the fight in Iraq," Washington Times, March 14, 2007.
 * "Iraq Pullout Sparks Mideast War: Cheney," Journal of the Turkish Weekly, March 14, 2007.