Say Anything Blog

The Brookings Institution, not known for its conservative leanings, had several of its players hit the ball out the park yesterday in two articles: 'Political Cover For Whom?' by Peter W. Rodman and 'A War We Just Might Win' by Michael E. O'Hanlon and Kenneth M. Pollack.

Rodman first tells us that because things have vastly improved in Iraq, it makes it much harder for the anti-war types to end the war in a way that does not make the Democrats own the inevitable defeat that follows:

The huge strategic stakes in the Middle East argue for resisting calls for any U.S. withdrawal not warranted by conditions in Iraq. The irony is that whoever is elected president next year -- from whichever party -- will come to understand this better than anyone.

Well, is a withdrawal warranted by conditions in Iraq? Not according to fellow Brookings wonks O'Hanlon and Pollack. Breaking out of their previous deep pessimisms regarding Mesopotamia, the two see real changes for the better and greatly improved morale for our troops due to the effectiveness of our efforts.

None of this is good news for the Democrats who profit politically from the Iraq 'quagmire'. Bush, savaged by the left for invading Iraq, is not letting them saddle a defeat on him as well. If the Democrats want defeat, they have to ante up - which they have wisely refused to do. Much better to drag out the 'quagmire' while it hurts Bush politically than to actually, you know, end the war. Bush is, after all, the true enemy.

Crossposted from WILLisms.com