National Security

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer revealed this week that plans were in the works to bring legislation back to the respective chambers in an attempt to pull the plug on the war effort. Senators Carl Levin and Robert Byrd, Defense and Appropriation Committee Chairman in the Senate, and Reps. John Murtha and David Obey the corresponding committee chairman from the House are working out the details for the latest attempt to bash the President and pull the rug out from under the troops in the field.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the plan will be based on the same strategy of withdrawal passed by the House in July and the supplemental funding bill vetoed by the President in May. "It will resemble what we have done before," Pelosi told reporters. "'The same' is pretty different than what the president wants."

Obey long ago decided to oppose supporting the troops efforts toward victory, and along with Murtha and Jim McGovern (D-MA) earlier this year proposed a $150 million surtax to fund the war knowing full well no such tax increase would be approved, and without money you can't fight. Even Pelosi hasn't bought into that bag of nuts. Obey was his outrageous best again on Monday, Nov. 5 when asked about the reported decline in violence and improved security in Iraq. If the violence is decreasing, he said, it's because the insurgents "are running out of people to kill…there are fewer targets." This wasn't some off the cuff remark in a hallway rushing to a meeting, or even late in the evening after a couple adult beverages. This was during a presentation before the National Press Club. Such absurdity wouldn't be quite so alarming if it came from someone other than the Chairman of Appropriations, the keeper of the nation's checkbook.

The Democrats should stop reading their dated public opinion polls and political consultant's plans for election victories. They should just pick up a newspaper. The fact is – just as Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker told them in September – progress is being made in Iraq, the "Surge" is having a positive effect. And, common-sense would suggest they divert from their obsessive hatred of Bush just long enough to let our troops succeed in completing their mission.

Consider these very recent reports – all from the main stream media:

• The Washington Post on Nov. 7 reported that according to Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, the Iraqi government spokesman, over 46,000 Iraqis moved back into Baghdad in the month of October.
• Reporting on the same information the Associated Press said Brig. Gen. al-Moussawi credited the "improving security situation" as the reason for the repopulation of the capital city, and acknowledged "the good performance of the armed forces."
• Also on Nov. 7, the New York Times reported from an interview with Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil Jr., commander of United States forces in Baghdad that al-Qaeda in Iraq had been routed from the city allowing "American troops involved in the "surge" to depart as planned." Deaths are down 80% and improvised bomb attacks are down 70% from the peak, according to Fil. Giving Iraqis a good deal of the credit for the improvements, Fil noted "The Iraqi people have just decided that they've had it up to here with violence."
• The following day, Nov. 8, the Associated Press reported "dramatic progress" in the Baghdad neighborhood of Amariyah that only months earlier was a center of operations for al-Qaeda in Iraq insurgents. On any giving day dozens of deaths and bombings occurred in this mostly Sunni and wealthy part of the city. While infrastructure still needs much repair from the bombings, the AP reported that stores were stocked with vegetables, baked goods, and meats, and activity was rapidly returning to normal. Noting that this turnaround is due to improved security and is happening throughout Baghdad and other parts of Iraq, the AP said "the speed of the turnaround in places such as Amariyah has taken almost everyone — including U.S. military forces in the area — by surprise." 

Much work remains to be sure, and anything resembling a stable Iraq is still very uncertain. Maj. Gen. Fil told reporters, "al-Qaida, while on the ropes, is not finished by any means. And they could come back swinging if they're allowed to." Which begs an obvious question of the Congressional Democratic Leadership: Why, when apparent progress is being made by the current strategy, would you undercut the effort and risk a backward slide that would mean more death, more bloodshed, and victory for al-Qaeda? But, that seems exactly what the Democrats are fixated on doing regardless of the facts or the consequences.