Report: Bush will maintain surge into 2008
Absorb it: “James Clyburn, the third-ranked Democrat in the House and a vocal troop withdrawal advocate, admitted that if General Petraeus reported progress it would be a problem for antiwar Democrats.” Progress = problem.
When Congress returns, expect the Democrats to renew their full-on push for surrender in Iraq. Their politics demand it, whatever the cost to us or the Iraqis.
I’ve been confident in saying the war was no longer politically tenable for the GOP, and that come September the defeatists would pick off enough Republican votes to force the president’s hand. I don’t yet think I’m wrong about that. Public support for the surge, though rising, is still low enough to make Republican politicians nervous. But hope builds:
President Bush plans to continue his Iraq troop surge well into next year after a string of positive reports left Democrats increasingly powerless to end the war.
Mr Bush, bolstered by growing public support for the surge and recent admissions from war critics that military gains have been made, has begun a campaign to talk up the strategy before General David Petraeus’s critical progress report next month.