Protecting Their Investment In Defeat

Democrats Already Discount War Report

Congressional Democrats are trying to undermine U.S. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus' credibility before he delivers a report on the Iraq war next week, saying the general is a mouthpiece for President Bush and his findings can't be trusted.

"The Bush report?" Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin said when asked about the upcoming report from Gen. Petraeus, U.S. commander in Iraq.

"We know what is going to be in it. It's clear. I think the president's trip over to Iraq makes it very obvious," the Illinois Democrat said. "I expect the Bush report to say, 'The surge is working. Let's have more of the same.' "

The top Democrats — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California — also referred to the general's briefing as the "Bush report."

Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Gen. Petraeus' report was potentially compromised by the White House's involvement in drafting it.

"If the same people who were so wrong about this war from the start are writing substantial portions of this report, that raises credibility questions," he said.

Are we really surprised by this? To admit that there has been any progress whatsoever would be political suicide for those Democrats who have hitched their political wagons to the idea of "defeat" in Iraq. So it's no longer a report from General Petraeus on the successes and/or setbacks of the surge, it is now "Bush's Report" (insert eerie conspiratorial music here), and therefore in the eyes of Democrats it can have no value whatsoever. Fortunately, some in the opposition are having none of it:

Republicans bristled at the pre-emptive strike against the report.

"Are these leaders asking the American people to believe that the testimony of a commanding four-star general in the U.S. Army should be discarded before it's even delivered?" said Brian Kennedy, spokesman for House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican.

"If so, these statements completely ignore what's truly at stake in this war and suggest that neither the commander in chief nor our chief commander on the ground have any regard for the lives of the men and women fighting for this country," he said. "It's appallng, and I think the American people — rightfully — will continue to stick by the decisions of our commanders and troops on the ground when it comes to what is best for their safety and security."

Oh, and never mind all the "we support the troops, but not their mission" crap spouted by the left. When it comes time to make political hay, they are quite happy to throw our fighting men and women under the bus, just as Senator Chuck Schumer did:

“And let me be clear, the violence in Anbar has gone down despite the surge, not because of the surge. The inability of American soldiers to protect these tribes from al Qaeda said to these tribes we have to fight al Qaeda ourselves. It wasn’t that the surge brought peace here. It was that the warlords took peace here, created a temporary peace here.”

Oh, and Senator Schumer has modified his anti-surge rehtoric. It seems his website and the video of his speech disagree about what was said. As usually happens, the Democrats get utterly surprised when the American people react angrily to their smear tactics against their country and it's troops...ergo he has deleted those remarks and I'm sure all his memories of ever uttering them. Sweetness & Light details Schumer's revisionist antics. What a shameful man Schumer is.

Now I'm not saying that the surge has been perfect, or that every goal has been met, but for God's sake, shut the fuck up until the details of the report have been delivered and then let's have a debate about what has worked, what hasn't, and what we need to do for the future. Unfortunately...the Democrats can't afford that kind of risk, so expect them to come out like a Michael Vick pitbull, attacking anyone and anything that hints of any good news out of Iraq. It's sad, and it's contemptible, and it's Democratic politics as usual.