Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) has returned from Iraq and given an interview to a liberal blog site–Think Progress–in which she complains about a ‘Green Zone Fog’ that clouds the minds of Members of Congress. She is to be congratulated on getting so close to the truth; we have identified it here as a ‘Jedi Mind Trick‘ performed on elected officials by General David Petraeus. Fortunately, Tauscher is too disciplined to be fooled by Master Petraeus. She insists that the surge is not working, and that Iraq is in fact ‘dramatically worse’ than when she last traveled there two years ago. In this respect she differs from–well, from most every serious person who has recently addressed the situation. Certainly those who travel beyond the Green Zone believe that things have gotten better. Those include O’Hanlon and Pollack, Tony Cordesman, Congressmen Ellison, McNerney, and Mahoney, and even Hillary Clinton from her perch stateside. And this anti-surge jag actually represents a bit of a departure for Tauscher, who has formerly been targeted by the left for her ‘Bush Dog’ views. One liberal site suggests that it was pressure from the Netroots has forced Tauscher to toe the company line:
The Wall Street Journal apparently agrees; they noted before she went to Iraq that she had moved to the left to avoid criticism from the base:
