But after reading the AP article, which among other gems includes “There is no guarantee that driving the organization out of current sanctuaries would prevent it from migrating to other regions to continue the fight,” you really can’t help but wonder what you’re talking about. “If they were smart,” you suggest, “Democrats would shut up and let the surge play out.” Well, are Democrats stopping the surge? No. They caved and let Bush have everything he asked for, no strings attached. And Congress’ poll numbers plummeted as a result, not, as you suggest, because Sen. Reid made some strong statements. Democrats, especially the liberal blogosphere, are furious with Congress, having promised to rein in the Adminsitration on the War.
I’d like to see your source for your claim that the poll numbers reflect Sen. Reid’s comments, and not the caving in to the presnit.
But your house of cards falls completely apart on “Democrats keep moving the yardsticks in determining whether the surge is working and whether we’re winning the war.” Hardly. The problem is, as The Sydney Morning Herald succintly states,
Sadly, the US generals in Baghdad have their pencil poised over F for failure. Security is still a shambles and Iraq’s paralysed political leadership is unable to compromise on any of a list of benchmarks set by Washington: how to share oil revenue; the status of the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk; the powers of the Iraqi presidency; allowing former Baathists back into public life; and more.
So, I guess if our great friends and allies, the Iraqis, can’t manage to meet even the most basic of benchmarks, the easiest thing to do is obsfucate the issue and blame the Democrats. Exactly what we’d expect from the radical right. Afterall, its not incompetance, mismanagement, and failure of the administration; it’s Harry Reid pointing out the failures and giving voice to the country’s frustration (in case you haven’t noticed, the real polls say that the American people are fed up with the Iraq mess and want a way out, now.)
But back to moving yardsticks. On Sunday’s Meet the Press, the US Ambassador to Iraq appeared and floated the administration’s trial balloon for how to deal with the coming September masssacre (with thanks to the HuffPo for the translations):
“America could not ask for a finer, more experienced and more able military leader than they have in Gen. Petraeus. I have heard him give tough, clear assessments to the president, to congressional visitors as they come through, and you’ve heard him in the open media… He calls it as he sees it.” Translation: So, in September, when he tells you that the surge is working, you had better believe him!
“The other thing I think we’re going to do [in September], because we owe it to our leadership at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, is also try to provide an assessment of what the consequences might be if we pursue other directions.” Translation: Even if the surge isn’t going so well come September, we are going to tell everyone — especially those in Congress — that if we leave Iraq we will unleash a genocidal bloodbath and war throughout the planet and, indeed, the entire galaxy. So we really need to give it more time.
“The surge buys time for a political process to get some legs under it.” Translation: We really, really need to give it more time.
“There is nothing easy about the task in front of [Iraq’s leaders], and I have certainly been struck since I’ve been here at the amount of commitment and effort that senior Iraqi officials have demonstrated to try and get the job done.” Translation: We really, really, really need to give it more time.
“It’s definitely not by any means a universally negative picture.” Translation: Don’t believe the facts, believe us!
You know the soft bigotry of the Bush administration’s low expectations for Iraq has finally hit bottom when “Hey, we’re doing slightly better than universally negative!” has become the rallying cry.
In the end, Reid and the Democrats are not stupid. Have you ever heard the saying Give them enough rope, and they’ll hang themselves?
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