Senate Democrats, not wanting to look less chicken than their House counterparts, announced today a newjoint resolution on cutting and running. The Dems want all troops out by September 2008...just in time for the November elections, don't you know.
The Reid Joint Resolution builds on the longstanding Democratic position on Iraq and the Levin-Reed Amendment: the current conflict in Iraq requires a political solution, Iraq must take responsibility for its own future, and our troops should not be policing a civil war. It contains binding language to direct the President to transition the mission for U.S. forces in Iraq and begin their phased redeployment within one-hundred twenty days with a goal of redeploying all combat forces by March 31, 2008. A limited number of troops would remain for the purposes of force protection, training and equipping Iraqi troops, and targeted counter-terror options.
Exactly what are "a limited number of troops" and who determines how many that is.
Power Line says
The Democrats' press release says that the President's strategy in Iraq "is not working" and has "failed," but never mentions the surge, nor does it address widely-acknowledged indications that the new approach seems to be working quite well, so far. All of this is side-stepped by calling the conflict in Iraq a "civil war," a phrase the Democrats' press release uses no fewer than five times. Apparently the Democrats believe that calling the conflict a "civil war" means that the administration's policy has failed even if it succeeds.
Wasn't that the plan all along?
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