Senator Reid: Please Call Your Office!
There has definitely been a shift in the political winds in Washington about Iraq. Senators Levin (D) and Warner (R) just returned from Iraq and basically say that the Surge is working, but the Iraqi government has to get their act together:
“We have seen indications that the surge of additional brigades to Baghdad and its immediate vicinity and the revitalized counter-insurgency strategy being employed have produced tangible results in making several areas of the capital more secure. We are also encouraged by continuing positive results — in al-Anbar Province, from the recent decisions of some of the Sunni tribes to turn against Al Qaeda and cooperate with coalition force efforts to kill or capture its adherents,” the two said in a statement issued after leaving the country.
“We remain concerned, however, that in the absence of overall national political reconciliation, we may be inadvertently helping to create another militia which will have to be dealt with in the future,” the two said.
Senator Levin has been one of the most vocal war opponents in the Senate, who notoriously compared US Troops to Nazis on a speech on the Senate floor.
Now that even Levin is acknowledging that the military is having success, Senator Reid is being put into a much more difficult position. Even the Democratic presidential candidates have started to change their tune:
The leading Democratic presidential contenders sounded a note of caution about a precipitous withdrawal from Iraq in a largely civil debate Sunday morning that also returned to the familiar themes of experience and electability.
“We have different positions here,” said Richardson, a former ambassador to the United Nations. “I believe that if you leave any residual forces, then none of the peace that we are trying to bring can happen. And it’s important.”
Biden countered: “If we leave Iraq and we leave it in chaos, there’ll be regional war. The regional war will engulf us for a generation. It’ll bring in the Shia, it’ll bring in the Saudis, it’ll bring in the Iranians, it’ll bring in the Turks.”
Clinton, Edwards and Obama said in effect that they supported Biden’s position, cautioning that it will be necessary to leave some troops behind to assist Iraqi forces and Iraqis who have helped Americans on the ground. “This is a massive, complicated undertaking,” Clinton said.
Poor Harry…
