If the spineless don't prevent it. At least that is what a couple of scholars from the definitely-not-conservative Brookings Institution have to say on the matter

VIEWED from Iraq, where we just spent eight days meeting with American and Iraqi military and civilian personnel, the political debate in Washington is surreal. The Bush administration has over four years lost essentially all credibility. Yet now the administrationÂ’s critics, in part as a result, seem unaware of the significant changes taking place.

Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand: We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms. As two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration’s miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily “victory” but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis could live with.

And then Michael E. OÂ’Hanlon and Kenneth M. Pollack go on to point to the real progress in Iraq that tends to get glossed over in favor of bad news stories. Things are, in fact, getting better in Iraq, and the US effort there is showing great success. Indeed, it is only on the political front that there is weakness.

What needs to be done?

In the end, the situation in Iraq remains grave. In particular, we still face huge hurdles on the political front. Iraqi politicians of all stripes continue to dawdle and maneuver for position against one another when major steps towards reconciliation — or at least accommodation — are needed. This cannot continue indefinitely. Otherwise, once we begin to downsize, important communities may not feel committed to the status quo, and Iraqi security forces may splinter along ethnic and religious lines.

How much longer should American troops keep fighting and dying to build a new Iraq while Iraqi leaders fail to do their part? And how much longer can we wear down our forces in this mission? These haunting questions underscore the reality that the surge cannot go on forever. But there is enough good happening on the battlefields of Iraq today that Congress should plan on sustaining the effort at least into 2008.

But that isn't what the Democrats want. They seek to begin withdrawing troops within 90 days, and to have the American military essentially out of Iraq by spring. Even the plans for a slow withdrawal have all the troops home within a year. Such plans, however, surrender American and Iraqi success to violence and bloodshed on an unspeakable level. And while the New York Times and liberal elites don't seen preventing genocide as a value to be upheld, those with a moral compass do -- especially when we are on the verge of ensuring that such a Holocaust does not come to pass.

UPDATE: Fortunately, the American people are beginning to see the truth in Iraq, even if it bugs the crap out of the NY Times. H/T Don Surber

Posted by: Greg at 01:30 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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