Home > Thinking Right > Archives > 2007 > July > 11
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Iraq. Dems. Run. That’s the policy.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
President George W. Bush, whose poll numbers are in danger of dropping to the levels of Congress, made another stab Tuesday at explaining to the nation why premature withdrawal from Iraq would be disastrous.
The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), meanwhile, proposed legislation that would direct Bush to begin pulling troops from Iraq within 120 days and to end combat operations by April 30, 2008. Democrats are desperate to get Iraq off the table before the next presidential election, when they might actually have to take responsibility for it.
Though some weak-willed Republicans, like Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Oregon) and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) may join in, a filibuster would likely greet the date-certain withdrawal proposal and the President has promised a veto. “Setting a date for withdrawal is equivalent to setting a date for failure,” he said.
Bush put himself in a box by agreeing to interim benchmarks for Iraqi government progress in several areas of political and economic change. Those goals are not expected to have been met. Bush is required to give the report to Congress by Sunday. He urged Congress and the nation to await the report from Gen. David Petraeus that’s expected in September.
The President has two legacies. One is national security and the war in Iraq. The other is his effort to rebalance the U.S. Supreme Court.
Democrats are determined to use this Congress as a two-year pre-election campaign. For Bush, that means charting a course and sticking to it. He needs to beef up support from his base in an effort to keep Senate Republicans from succumbing to poll numbers. He needs, as well, to veto everything that attempts to set arbitrary withdrawal schemes.
His legacy is what it is. The course left for him is to fight for what he believes is right. Leave the poll-watching to those running for re-election.
Services »
