Monday, June 18, 2007

Petraeus: Iraq 'Challenges' to Last for Years

Conditions in Iraq will not improve sufficiently by September to justify a drawdown of U.S. military forces, the top commander in Iraq said yesterday.

Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, his diplomatic counterpart in Baghdad, said a key report they will deliver to Washington in September will include what Crocker called "an assessment of what the consequences might be if we pursue other directions." Noting the "unhelpful roles" being played by Iran and Syria in Iraq, Crocker said: "We've got to consider what could happen."
We were told that by Septmeber we would be told whether or not this surge was working. It was the basis for the Iraq funding bill which so many objected to. The Democrats have funded this war through Septmeber knowing a progress report out at that time will determine where to go from here.

General Patraeus has just thrown cold water on that plan. It would seem that there is no intention to change course or end this war. The Democrats need to grow a spine and cut off the funding. It is painfully obvious that no other option is left on the table.

What the Democrats need to do is to drive this point home with the American public, so that when the Republican noise machine spins into overdrive, it will fall on deaf ears. A vast majority of the American people want this war over. The political gamble for the Democrats is not cutting off the funds it is continuing the status quo.

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