Quote of the Day

"The point of such a hearing [for Robert Gates] would not be to torpedo his nomination, but rather to put down some markers on Iraq and attempt to define the parameters within which the Administration will operate going forward...

...After the 1968 elections, not many Americans would probably have guessed that we would be in Vietnam for another six and a half years. We're at a similarly decisive moment now."
--Talking Points Memo contributor David Kurtz, on the importance of the Gates hearings.

That last paragraph is the most important point. President Nixon ran on a campaign of ending the war and instead spent most of his presidency continuing Johnson's escalation, accomplishing nothing more than increasing the body count. Finally, reality (and domestic scandals) set in and he was forced to cut our losses and end a dark chapter in American foreign policy. If a similar decision isn't made soon-- and the Democrats do have ideas in that regard-- then we will find ourselves deeper in the hole in a few years, as President Bush prepares to cut and run back to Crawford leaving his successor with the difficult choice he couldn't bring himself to make.

The media needs to stop acting as if the platform that the Democrats ran on (and won with) was winning the war, rather than ending it. We'd all like to win, but even many of the war's earliest, most fervent supporters are realizing that is no longer an option. The circumstances are not with us and we don't have the resources in any case. I've yet to hear a compelling case to the contrary. It's all just variations of 'stay the course'.

Whether it's a timetable for phased withdrawals, bringing in the U.N. to craft a solution, or some other path, our main focus should be on developing an exit strategy. Otherwise, this election will have meant nothing and we will all be watching this play out in a few years.

[Related reading:
-Newsweek (Michael Hirsh): All the King's Horses…
It's too late for Jim Baker, Nancy Pelosi or anyone else to put this Humpty Dumpty back together again. But if Iraq is hopeless, there’s still time for Afghanistan.

-Time magazine (Michael Kinsley): When "Oops" Isn't Enough--
Would it really kill the neocons to apologize for the Iraq war?]