Oh Yea... That War Thing

I've been gushing over the new Democratic majority in the last day or two (hey, winning has felt good for a change), but news that President Bush's speech on his 'new way forward' (read: escalation) is coming sometime next week means their honeymoon will be soon be interrupted by the issue that put them in charge... Iraq.

This headline says it all-- 'Dems to inherit agenda dominated by war' (AP)

Speaker Pelosi touched on this in her speech yesterday: "Nowhere were the American people more clear about the need for a new direction than in Iraq. The American people rejected an open-ended obligation to a war without end."

Senate Majority Leader Reid is on the record as opposing plans for escalation, stating he supports a plan "that reflects the reality on the ground in Iraq and that withdraws our troops from the middle of this deadly civil war." Robert 'Douchebag of Liberty' Novak notes that even most Senate Republicans (many of whom are up for reelection in 2008) will be reluctant to support Bush on this. Strongest among them was long-time war critic Sen. Hagel, who said "It's Alice in Wonderland. I'm absolutely opposed to sending any more troops to Iraq. It is folly."

To officially articulate the Democratic position on this, Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid have written a joint letter to President Bush stating their opposition to an escalation of the war. Key sections for me-

...Despite the fact that our troops have been pushed to the breaking point and, in many cases, have already served multiple tours in Iraq, news reports suggest that you believe the solution to the civil war in Iraq is to require additional sacrifices from our troops and are therefore prepared to proceed with a substantial U.S. troop increase.

Surging forces is a strategy that you have already tried and that has already failed. Like many current and former military leaders, we believe that trying again would be a serious mistake. They, like us, believe there is no purely military solution in Iraq. There is only a political solution...

...Rather than deploy additional forces to Iraq, we believe the way forward is to begin the phased redeployment of our forces in the next four to six months, while shifting the principal mission of our forces there from combat to training, logistics, force protection and counter-terror. A renewed diplomatic strategy, both within the region and beyond, is also required to help the Iraqis agree to a sustainable political settlement. In short, it is time to begin to move our forces out of Iraq and make the Iraqi political leadership aware that our commitment is not open ended, that we cannot resolve their sectarian problems, and that only they can find the political resolution required to stabilize Iraq.

Our troops and the American people have already sacrificed a great deal for the future of Iraq. After nearly four years of combat, tens of thousands of U.S. casualties, and over $300 billion dollars, it is time to bring the war to a close...

Bold added by me. This is a good first gesture, making it clear where they stand, and they need to be as smart in getting this all over the press as the President has with his 'surge' position, but letters don't end wars. Action does. They have to know that the President will pay no mind to a word in this letter. I hope they have a plan for the next step(s).

President Bush is a very stubborn and deluded man, with known contempt for Congress. And as blogger Atrios always notes, Bush's belief that 'Leaving = Losing' (and that he needs to drag this out until 2009) guides all his actions.

Whether Democratic leaders are willing to go beyond rhetoric in the coming weeks and take the hard, risky legislative steps necessary to stop him remains to be seen.

[UPDATE: Those two 'maverick' Senators Lieberman and McCain play Iraq study group with the American Enterprise Institute to discuss how to keep this awesome war going.]