After spending much of Monday and Tuesday watching the testimony
of Gen. Petraeus, I think that several developments make it much
more likely that Congress will grant him more time to carry out the
surge strategy. They are, as follows:
--The decision by MoveOn.org to take out the "Betray Us" ad was
an absolute blunder. A majority of Americans may oppose the war,
but they still hold the military in high esteem, and it simply is
not helpful for opposition to the war to be associated with
smearing a well-respected military leader who-no matter one's views
on the war-is doing an admirable job given the cards he was dealt.
That this was followed by Code Pink's nonsense during the hearings
does not help the anti-war cause either.
--Petraeus proved cool-headed and unflappable through hours of
testimony, questions, and grandstanding lectures by members of
Congress.
--Petraeus's proposal to withdraw 30,000 troops, bringing forces
to pre-surge levels next July, steals some thunder from the
Democrats, especially because Petraeus said he would revisit troop
levels in March. Democrats may argue that it's too little and too
slow, but assuming Petraeus's recommendations are taken up by Bush,
removing some troops blunts criticism of Bush as a pig-headed
dead-ender who is oblivious to the strain the current troop levels
are placing on the military.
--Democratic leaders still seem to have resigned themselves to
the fact that they'll lose this round of the battle over the war.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Nancy Pelosi again made the
argument that as long as Bush's signature is needed, they cannot
end the war. And that brings me to my final point.
--Democrats don't want to end the war. The biggest issue they
have going for them in 2008 is: the only way we can end the war is
to elect a Democratic president and more Democrats to Congress.
Their base may get restive in the meantime, but the grassroots will
still be energized next year by the prospect of retaking the White
House.
That's how it looks now anyway. We'll see where things are over
the next couple of weeks.
topics:
Nancy Pelosi, Military
