Senator Reid's recent comment disgraceful

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (DÐNev.), no stranger to controversy, has stepped in it, again - big time!

After the very controversial and, many would say, treasonous comments Reid made a few months back, in which he said that "the war was lost," while troops are engaged in combat, Reid made equally derisive comments during an interview more recently with some liberal bloggers - a comment that was never reported.

Reid called outgoing Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Peter Pace (USMC) "incompetent."

Reid made similarly disgraceful remarks about Army General David Petraeus, the top field commander in Iraq, said several sources familiar with the interview.

In the annals of American history, during a time of war, one would be hard-pressed to find the Senate Majority Leader continuously spouting such disgraceful comments. For Reid to make the statement that the "war is lost," when in fact we have not ceded one inch of territory in Iraq or Afghanistan, is incredibly naïve and foolish. Particularly after he and most other politicians voted to send our young men and women into battle. Sure, things are tough, in both theaters, but we are very far from losing the war. Indeed, with the dramatic improvement on the ground in Anbar Province, as well as the continued reduction in sectarian violence around Baghdad, the recent surge is beginning to show clear signs of progress.

The only way the U.S. could possibly lose this war is politically, and the Senator and his colleagues have been doing everything in their power to ensure that that happens. They must not succeed, for the sake of our nation's interests.

If anyone has continuously demonstrated incompetence, it has been Senator Reid. He continues to embarrass himself, the nation and mostly his constituents in Nevada, and has demonstrated a total lack of ability to get anything passed in the Senate. Certainly the majority of voters in Nevada did note vote for this total lack of leadership.

• Conrad Velin is the regional finance director for Sierra Nevada Media Group and a member of the Appeal's editorial board. The opinion he expresses here does not necessarily represent the view of the Appeal editorial board. You can reach him at cvelin@sierranevadamedia.com.