Just a few months ago, House and Senate Democrats loudly proclaimed that they would move aggressively to end the war in Iraq by September, after the submission of key progress reports. They anticipated cooperation of Republicans, who had already told President Bush their patience was wearing thin.
With Gen. David Petraeus headed to Capitol Hill today to deliver his assessment on the success of the troop surge, far fewer Republicans appear prepared to defect from Bush than Democrats once expected. That is forcing Democratic leaders to go back to the drawing board with their plans to quickly legislate an end to the war.
In the Senate, Democratic leaders are even talking of a compromise plan with Republicans.
“They are not going to have an implosion among Republicans,” said a GOP moderate who was one of just 17 Republicans to vote against the troop surge earlier this year.
Early reports have indicated Petraeus will give Congress a mixed review of the troop surge, one that will generally show military progress but a lack of substantial improvement in the organization of the government and political system.
“Their best hope for a big momentum push was to have a surge that failed, and clearly by every account available so far, it is working,” said Kevin Smith, spokesman for House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, R-Ohio.
Democrats say Republicans are simply taking an overly rosy view of the progress reports that have been issued so far, including a Government Accountability Office assessment that indicated the Iraqis have met only three of 18 important benchmarks set by the United States.
“The main question is, has there been any political reconciliation in Iraq and there doesn’t appear to be any,” said Brendan Daly, spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., was noncommittal last week when asked whether Democrats planned to forge ahead with a bill that would set a timeline for withdrawing troops.
According to a GOP lawmaker who voted against the surge, House Republicans may be unwilling to compromise at all with Pelosi at this point, due to her earlier refusals to put forward compromise legislation GOP moderates could embrace.
