Democrats set to abandon resolve on Iraq exit

[babylonsister]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/9428

Democrats set to abandon resolve on Iraq exit
by Weldon Berger | Aug 18 2007


Can "Democrats," "resolve" and "Iraq" be used in the same sentence without violating the Associated Press style manual guidelines? I traded my copy to a literate streetcorner pharmacist for a few days of anti-depression medication, so I don't know. I do know that congressional Democrats will not be taking any action to hasten our exit from Iraq before George Bush leaves office.

A substantial number of Democrats are already reluctant to press the issue. The Petraeus/Crocker/Rice/Gates dog and pony show coming up in a few weeks will peel off more. Washington congressman Brian Baird, who voted against authorizing the invasion and still thinks it was a hideous blunder, told an Olympia newspaper after his recent trip to Iraq that "I think we're making real progress" and "the consequences of pulling back precipitously would be potentially catastrophic for the Iraqi people themselves, to whom we have a tremendous responsibility … and in the long run chaotic for the region as a whole and for our own security."

Baird's take will resonate among Democrats who desperately want to avoid making a decision on Iraq. If you add together the ones who essentially support the administration's position with the ones who think tweaks are necessary but that leaving is too scary — this includes proponents of the legislation that would withdraw all troops but the ones Bush thinks are essential — you probably have something close to a majority of Democrats in both chambers of Congress who have no intention of even considering withdrawal.

I have no advice for Democrats who want out of Iraq other than to throw your presidential primary support en masse to whichever candidate most clearly and believably articulates an exit plan: he may not win (and I use "he" advisedly), but you'll feel less like a chump afterward. I do have some choice words for Democrats who lauded what they thought was Harry Reid's and Nancy Pelosi's cunning strategy of incrementalism in pushing for a withdrawal, but there's little point in publishing them since those Democrats will either be adapting to the reality as it dawns upon them — cognitive dissonance shields up! — or cursing themselves more effectively than I could.

more...

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/9428

[rodeodance]

1. and if they do it will be for 'show'

[Warren Stupidity]

2. I could have sworn that our bedraggled pom pom squad here

promised us that pelosi and reid were deftly maneuvering our party into position for a september confrontation with the administration.

The War Party won the November election. Them is the facts.

[ulysses]

3. what abandon?

Gotta have it to abandon it.

:kick:

[0007]

4. The gutless media and the weak as tea Democrats are gonna catch a dummy!

Why does this turd scare the only source we have?

[kansasblue]

5. That sucks..... tear gas and ant-war riots are now moving....

from the Republican Convention.......... To the Democratic Convention.

[marmar]

6. Dios mio!

This country truly is (fill in the descriptive/profane adjective here)!
:mad:

[bvar22]

7. Are the Democrats TRYING to lose in 2008?

This will hurt.

[groovedaddy]

8. Reeks too much of American arrogance

What about the will of the Iraqi people? I suppose they just don't know what's good for them.

[yurbud]

9. their "actions" are all for show, to lull us back to sleep.