Having bet on defeat in Iraq, Congressional Democratic leaders now glumly prepare for the worst of possible outcomes: victory. That’s an exaggeration of course; victory in Iraq is a long way away. But where Democrats were once confident that the media drumbeat of bad news in Iraq would force the president to accede to demands for troop withdrawal, they now recognize that things have gone too well in Iraq for such a measure to garner broad support. Instead, they’re now looking for Republican allies on a measure calling for reductions in troop levels in Iraq. But because of the positive developments in Iraq since the implementation of Operation Phantom Thunder, it’s not likely that they can muster the votes they need to force a drawdown any more quickly than the administration is preparing to recommend. Nevertheless, the Hill makes clear that House Democrats will put on a good show for the base:
It’s worth noting that House liberals are now arguing against training Iraqi security forces. What chance do the people of Iraq have if liberal Democrats get their way–and the U.S. leaves now, without training Iraqi security troops to keep the peace? It will also be interesting to watch the anger from the left as it becomes plain in the weeks ahead that the Congressional leadership gave up its last chance to stop the war when they allowed it to be funded. Conservatives have argued since the Congress changed hands last fall that Democrats had one constitutionally-permissible way to end the war: to stop funding it. Once they elected not to do that, it became impossible to alter the course of the war except by convincing the president to change course.
