Not much time left - they'd better get a move on.
Gen. Pace Declares Iraq 'Sea Change' - TIMEBut the long term's not important. At this point, to judge by the Democrats in Congress, Iraq's a lost cause. It's GOT to be a lost cause. They've staked out a position - and they've got damn near everything riding on making sure the Iraq Surge is a failure.In Washington on Monday, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said he would force the chamber's first all-night debate on the Iraq war Tuesday night in advance of a vote Wednesday on whether to bring home all combat troops by next spring. Republicans are using Senate rules to insist that the measure have 60 votes to pass — a de facto filibuster since it takes that many votes to cut off debate.
Pace conferred Monday with Petraeus and Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the No. 2 commander in Iraq, who said he did not currently foresee requesting more troops. "Right now I can't find an assessment where I would say I need more troops," Odierno said, adding that he is confident that by September he will be able to give Petraeus his advice on how the troop buildup is working.
"My assessment right now is, I need more time" to understand how the offensive targeting al-Qaida in Iraq is working and how it could lead to political progress. I'm seeing some progress now here in Iraq. We have really just started what the Iraqis term 'liberating' them from al-Qaida. What I've got to determine is what do I need in order to continue that progress so that the political piece can then take hold and Iraqi security forces can hold this for the long term."
I heard a call (not sure by who) on the radio today that we need to evaluate the results of the surge NOW, not in September. Of course, it was 'for the soldiers' - but it sure seems the soldiers are more confident of success than the Democrats.
I've mentioned before that I REALLY don't think the Dems anticipate how much damage they're going to inflict if they force a loss in Iraq. The people of Iraq are gonna get screwed, of course. But do they really think there's not going to be any blowback? They're being very vocal on their anti-war agenda, and being very publically against the war... but they're gonna have a hell of a time disassociating themselves politically from the results of what they want. They're very much on record now - and it WILL affect the '08 election.
And if they manage to pull the troops out, the resulting carnage will be laid at THEIR feet, not at Bush's. I don't see appeasing their anti-war base will make up for the other losses they'll take.
J.