Preparing For Petraeus

Senators Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham, McCain's traveling companions on his recent fact-finding trip, review the progress in Iraq in anticipation of General Petraeus' testimony before Congress tomorrow.

Having led one of the most remarkably successful military operations in American history, Petraeus will
face antiwar critics, who confidently predicted the failure of the surge, and have been proven decidedly wrong:

No one can deny the dramatic improvements in security in Iraq achieved by Gen. Petraeus, the brave troops under his command, and the Iraqi Security Forces. From June 2007 through February 2008, deaths from ethno-sectarian violence in Baghdad have fallen approximately 90%. American casualties have also fallen sharply, down by 70%.

Al Qaeda in Iraq has been swept from its former strongholds in Anbar province and Baghdad.

[. . .]

In recent months, the Iraqi government, encouraged by our Ambassador in Iraq, Ryan Crocker, has passed benchmark legislation on such politically difficult issues as de-Baathification, amnesty, the budget and provincial elections. After boycotting the last round of elections, Sunnis now stand ready to vote by the millions in the provincial elections this autumn. The Iraqi economy is growing at a brisk 7% and inflation is down dramatically.

[. . .]

also continues to wage a vicious and escalating proxy war against the Iraqi government and the U.S. military. The ians have American blood on their hands. They are responsible, through the extremist agents they have trained and equipped, for the deaths of hundreds of our men and women in uniform. Increasingly, our fight in Iraq cannot be separated from our larger struggle to prevent the emergence of an ian-dominated Middle East.

These continuing threats from and al Qaeda underscore why we believe that decisions about the next steps in Iraq should be determined by the recommendations of Gen. Petraeus, based on conditions on the ground.

It is also why it is imperative to be cautious about the speed and scope of any troop withdrawals in the months ahead, rather than imposing a political timeline for troop withdrawal against the recommendation of our military.

Unable to make the case that the surge has failed, antiwar forces have adopted a new set of talking points, emphasizing the "costs" of our involvement in Iraq, hoping to exploit Americans' current economic anxieties.

Today's antiwar politicians have effectively turned John F. Kennedy's inaugural address on its head, urging Americans to refuse to pay any price, or bear any burden, to assure the survival of liberty. This is wrong. The fact is that America's prosperity at home and security abroad are bound together. We will not fare well in a world in which al Qaeda and can claim that they have defeated us in Iraq and are ascendant.

There is no question the war in Iraq – like the Cold War, World War II and every other conflict we have fought in our history – costs money. But as great as the costs of this struggle have been, so too are the dividends to our national security from a successful outcome, with a functioning, representative Iraqi government and a stabilized Middle East.

Read the whole thing.

Unfortunately, Senators Lieberman and Graham are wrong when they say no one can deny the progress in Iraq. The Democrats do just that.

It doesn't matter what the commanders on the ground in Iraq say. Both Hillary and Obama continue to claim they will "withdraw" from Iraq, even though they would both leave significant residual forces.

The Democrats also ignore the recent progress achieved in Iraq.