Dems Hold All the Cards on Iraq, So Why Are They Folding?

Remember earlier this summer when Harry Reid and the Democrats vowed they were "going to hold the president's feet to the fire" on Iraq? Well, now it appears they've decided to play footsie with the White House instead and take what one Democratic strategist calls "a more nuanced approach" that includes backing off demands to set a firm withdrawal date.

In anticipation of next week's inevitably sunny side up -- and statistically cherry-picked -- report from Gen. Petraeus, the White House has cranked up its spin machine, and the Democrats are falling into their default duck-and-cover mode.

So we get Bush hopping off a plane in Australia after his eight-hour photo-op layover in Iraq and telling the Deputy Prime Minister: "We're kicking ass" -- while Democratic leaders let it be known they are hoping "to manage expectations" by lowering their sights on Iraq.

Bush is certainly not kicking ass in Iraq but next week he may be kicking ass in Washington.

Just last week, Reid was promising "I will not let these Republicans hide. When the Senate returns to Washington, I will force them to take vote, after vote, after vote on bringing an end to the war in Iraq."

Now the air on Capitol Hill is full of talk of "bipartisan compromise" and even Ken Salazar's insipid proposal, which Reid himself had previously rejected as a "toothless tiger," is getting renewed interest.

"I can't believe how Democrats are playing this game," a Republican strategist told me the other night. "They hold all the cards -- and they are folding."

This spineless approach is the last thing Democrats need. Do they have no memory of 2002 and 2004, when caution and timidity led to defeat? If 2008 doesn't turn out to be a landslide for Democrats, it will be because of the seeds of caution being planted now.

Perhaps the weight of Katie Couric's take on Iraq -- "real progress has been made there in terms of security and stability" -- was too much to bear. In the same way that once Cronkite turned against Vietnam Johnson knew the war was lost, it appears the Democrats believe that once Couric embraced the surge, it could no longer be resisted.

So next week, the collective wisdom of 16 intelligence agencies and the Government Accounting Office may be eclipsed by the cherry-picked stats of Petraeus and the administration. As the Washington Post reports, apparently certain kinds of violence in Iraq just don't count in the eyes of the administration. Literally -- they aren't being counted. Shot in the head from the front? Doesn't count. Shiite on Shiite bloodshed? Doesn't count (this despite escalating warfare between rival Shi'a groups in Basra). Sunni on Sunni violence? Doesn't count. As those radicals in the Iraq Study Group put it in their report: "Good policy is difficult to make when information is systematically collected in a way that minimizes its discrepancy with policy goals."

And good political strategy is difficult to make when you are constantly wondering how your decisions will look in a future attack ad. "This administration's capabilities of having Rose Garden press conferences and the kind of punitive rhetoric they're using is concerning to Members," explained Rep. Ellen Tauscher. "I don't think we have a vehicle [for withdrawal] that will get 60 votes in the Senate. In the absence of that, we're naked."

Well, better naked than castrated.

The Democrats' thinking on this is unfathomable -- it makes no sense logically, morally or politically. They have the majority of the American people wanting to bring this war to an end; a constant stream of tragic news from Iraq; and a president committed to "stay the course" despite all evidence that the course we are on is taking us over the cliff.

It's time for Democrats to stop sounding the retreat on ending the war and actually pay attention to John McCain, who said that if they "are serious that we ought to stop the war" they should "bring up a bill to cut off the funding and end it."

McCain is right. Exercising their Constitutional power of the purse is exactly what Democrats need to do if they are serious about ending the war. And if they are serious about winning in 2008.

Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff

Comments

[cadawa]

Since the 2000 election when the Democrats helped the Bush junta steal an election they won, the Democratic Party has not been on the side of the American people.
Almost none of the Bush agenda including war crimes, stealing our civil rights, sucking the treasury dry and the culture of corruption would have had a chance of success without support from the Democratic Party.
When the Democrats betrayed us after the 2006 election, it was a continuation of what they had been doing all along.
You cannot trust this Democratic Party.
It is impertive that people who call themselves Democrats co-opt the Party from its corrupt leadership.
If we do not the next election will be as meaningless as the last.

[waxwings]

Good thing you've got the guts to hold the Dems feet to the fire, since they're too fucking gutless to hold the administration's feet to the fire.

[anothernixon]

Reid and Pelosi must go. There is no leadership and no cohesion within the party. Fear of not being re-elected rests within the Congress. Bush and his cronies have done an extremely good job of putting those who resist their antics on trial with the voters.

Somebody has got to put a stop on their runaway administration. The war, Illegal activities and an outright assault on the Constitution and citizens rights must end.

[Dejack]

There is talk in these blogs of withholding funding the Democratic party until they grow some balls and take real steps to end this war.
They have to stop the political calculating and take the stand that expresses the will of the people. They have the power of the purse but are too calculating to use it. Some people are sending back their letters requesting donations with the note: Not One Dime until Democrats end the war. That might shake them up a little bit.

[jhink]

Right on the money. I do the same thing with the solicitations for money I get from the DNC or others. Not a dime until you holding the public trust grow a pair.

[EsqAICP]

Why don't the Dems get a spine. At least if they are going to fold at least predicate the approval of the supplemental funding on a requirement that all supplemental funding must be paid for entirely out of taxes on corporations or the top 2% of americans?

[Qbear]

Mary Maitlan may be more aggressive than BOTH Houses of Congresses Democrats...she at least threw a pen when angered.

*just shakes my head...(my brain is starting to hurt)

[JackMonroe]

MS Huffington there has got that straight. Maybe the democrats should read her book. It's like we've become fearful of offending anybody. Let me tell you something, no one in the world, or at least in politics, is that sensitive. It ain't healthy. We've been letting the republicans bone us since Lincoln was assassinated. Are the republicans more patriotic? Are they personally braver? Are they more honorable? Do they possess more integrity? Heck no. Bush deserted from the National Guard. Cheney got himself six deferments. Foley likes young boys. Craig can't use a public restroom without adult supervision. And the rest of the sons of _____s are adulterers. Heck, I'd enter the squared ring with any of them, any time, anywhere, with or without steroids.

Furthermore - and you would think this would be a boon to democrats - the republicans do not like choosing candidates who possess leadership qualities. That's how dummy got to be president. They didn't pick Jeb, who can speak English, but the...well, let's just say, the "challenged" one. The Republicans had two real leaders, Lincoln and Roosevelt, and after them they swore they'd never pick a fellow with brains again.

The republicans are so desperate now they're letting Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney run, both liberals in wolf clothing. And, to make matters, worse, they're dipping into the actors guild for one more hapless shot at a Reagan impersonator.

Insisting on losing is one thing, but you might as well go down fighting...or at least lying, cheating, and making accusations just like the republicans...

[leftLibertarian]

AHnold's description of Democrats as 'girlie men' is very apt since they don't have the BALLS to impeach bush and cheney for their many crimes.

[Semper]

The problem the Democrats have is that they are just as ineffective as the Republicans. Nancy Pelosi was more concerned that she get Speaker of the House, Liberman was more concerned that his mother should have been alive to see him running for Vice President, Many Democrats wanted the Republicans out of power. Politics have become a status symbol. And there is a danger in that type of attitude. But the Democrats have no direction. no plans and they are continuing to be out manevered by the Republicans who want to take America "Back". The are the party with no vision. Well I thing the Democrats have caught that desease too. I have yet to see or hear any Democrat come up with a promise to inspire anyone. When America needs to do is enpower its people. When things are a mess, American need inspiration, they will figure a way out of this mess, We always have. But Democrats can't let the Republicans close the door to hope and positive thinking. The Republicans have become the party of thief and limiting persona freedoms. Hillary looks good, but she just don't have it. We are paying for the sins of money. Give that young Obama a chance. We did it with John Kennedy. Young brash with news ideas. We have too many recycled Democrats hanging around until retirement. We need committed Democrats in office. We understand government and know the difference between how the Public sector works and how the Private works. Understanding that the Private sector have financial objectives and shareholder to satisfy and the Government is a representation of the people of this country. And that the objectives are very different and sometimes in total conflict with each other.

[dougd]

What a hoot.
Folding like a cheap suit.

[lip11]

Stop bringing up the 60 votes needed in the Senate to overcome a filibuster. It's a false argument.

All congress has to do is nothing. Don't bring any occupation funding bills to the floor. Presto, Bush runs out of money and has to withdraw. The only money that should be funded should be to safely withdraw our assets and personnel from this debacle.

[conned]

Unfortunately, it makes perfect sense if you can allow that all their talk about wanting an end to the war is nothing but hot air. They want the war as bad as the Republicans, or so it seems. Its in America's strategic interest to control the middle east, and to do it on behalf of our economic giants - energy corps.

These people voted to go to war, and they have given the president EVERYTHING he's asked for in order to continue it. As the saying goes, "Actions speak louder than words".

As far as I can tell, the same lobbiests from the energy/ oil companies/ media corps. that so generously funded the Republican coffers previously, and had a major influence in shaping the current middle east policy, are now feeding the Democratic coffers. Its no secret that Dems are raising more than the Repubs for the presidential campaign, so in light of the Dems' actions, wouldn't it follow that those who are feeding them are ones that are dictating their agenda? They're bought and paid for. I think they are just trying to string us along, make us think they're in the fight of their lives until the next election is won.

[Qbear]

Members of Congress,

Many of you did abysmally on the NSA spying midterm test, you still have the chance to PASS this course, if you do well on the finals in September...which counts for 98% of your grade.

good luck class

[DanOregon]

It's time for the Democrats and Republicans to ask Bush to resign.
If he is just playing for time in Iraq, putting troops in harms way with no exit strategy or clear course for success he is not doing anyone any good. I'd rather see Cheney try and do something than letting our troops twist in the wind.

And I'm hoping some Dems consider new Congressional leadership. They are not being served well.

[naschkatze]

What do you think of Frohnmayer running for Smith's seat as an independent? Especially since Merkley, the most likely Democratic candidate, was just like Hillary Clinton, voted for the Iraq War (symbolically) before he was against it, even praised the Village Idiot? I think we're lucky to have an independent alternative to the two parties for the Senate seat.

[Qbear]

The two stalls in the Congress (Rep and Dems)are too busy playing toe tap games to notice
New Orleans is STILL a disaster, we've been HAD by Cheney since January, waiting for a surge Report that doesn' EXISIT, the Economy is going down the toilet (you'd think in the stalls, that one wouldn't have gotten by without their notice.)

Canada is looking SO much better, every day this administration is in power.