Around and around we go and where we stop, nobody knows. The Democrats have reversed themselves again. Dafydd has an interesting post up on the latest change in heart. Remember when the Democrats in Congress said it was absolutely essential to follow the Baker/Hamilton plan? Well they have slept since then:
You remember the Iraq Study Group, right? Evidently Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Caesar's Palace, 95%) does not. They were the bipartisan group (the other co-chair was former Democratic dauphin of the House Lee Hamilton) which produced a series of recommendations anent Iraq. Way back in the dim mists of January, it pleased the Democrats to declare those recommendations the single most important blueprint for moving that thorny problem forward... and they insisted, nay demanded, that President George W. Bush follow every last jot and tittle of that report.
Well today, Baker reminds us of one of the most important of the ISG's recommendations -- one that appears to have slipped Mr. Reid's mind:
The best, and perhaps only, way to build national agreement on the path forward is for the president and Congress to embrace the only set of recommendations that has generated bipartisan support: the Iraq Study Group report...
The report does not set timetables or deadlines for the removal of troops, as contemplated by the supplemental spending bills the House and Senate passed. In fact, the report specifically opposes that approach. As many military and political leaders told us, an arbitrary deadline would allow the enemy to wait us out and would strengthen the positions of extremists over moderates. A premature American departure from Iraq, we unanimously concluded, would almost certainly produce greater sectarian violence and further deterioration of conditions in Iraq and possibly other countries.
In addition, many of the provisions of Lt.Gen. David Petraeus' counterinsurgency strategy embrace the unanimous recommendations found in that document. For example:
The president's plan increases the number of American advisers embedded in Iraqi army units, with the goal that the Iraqi government will assume control of security in all provinces by November. It outlines benchmarks and indicates that the Iraqi government must act to attain them. He has approved ministerial-level meetings of all of Iraq's neighbors, including Syria and Iran; the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council; and other countries.
This is getting stupid.
5 comments:
Winston Churchill said something like, the Russians were like a bad guest at a hotel, who has to try every doorknob as he walks down a hallway.
This new Dem leadership is the same.
The Dems have gotten very cocky and are over-reaching. It will hurt them. Humungous tax increases, rogue foreign policy, having hearings about trivial issues, bringing back the ERA (why not bring back love beads)? For all of Bush's low polling numbers, he has always seemed blessed by having enemies who are fools. I mean Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, John Conyers, Henry Waxman... Gosh, put these people on camera more often, please! It's the best thing Bush could hope for.
Barry, re your reference to polls--and I know Terrye is interested in the topic, too--take a look at the comments in this Surber piece.
Right now Bush's numbers are better than theirs. It took years of war and partisan politics to do to Bush's numbers what the Dems have done to their own in a few short months.
The spirits have done it all in one night.
The Spirit of Hubris.
The Spirit of Stupid.
The Spirit of sneaky.
buddy:
Yes, I checked the link and it is true even good news is bad news. I think that one reason Bush gets low numbers on the economy is that people can still remember when gas was about half what it is.
And of course, people always think they should be making more money. That is the price you pay for long periods of growth. They remember cheap gas, but they have forgotten what a real recession is.
Maybe I will do a post on that.
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