The Progress Made In Iraq & Gen. Petraeus Testimony

Flopping Aces ^ | April 7th, 2008 | Curt

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

On the heels of the testimony of Gen. Petraeus to Congress this week Senator Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman have written a editorial in the Wall Street Journal that is a must read:

Al Qaeda in Iraq has been swept from its former strongholds in Anbar province and Baghdad. The liberation of these areas was made possible by the surge, which empowered Iraqi Muslims to reject the Islamist extremists who had previously terrorized them into submission. Any time Muslims take up arms against Osama bin Laden, his agents and sympathizers, the world is a safer place.

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.

But don’t tell that to Senator Biden who declared The Surge a failure and many other Democrats who ready and waiting to screech that its all a failure: (subscription required so full text below)

In hearings this week with top U.S. leaders in Iraq, Democrats will point to growing violence and a lack of political progress to reinforce their calls for withdrawal and highlight differences with the GOP in a presidential election year.

The four hearings planned for April 8 and 9 will focus on the status of the war — in its sixth year — and the broader implications for the U.S. military and the nation.

General David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker will be pressed by Democrats to explain the recent increase in violence, the failed Iraqi offensive in Basra against Shiite militias and how the U.S. military will be able to sustain military operations there.

Key to their strategy is the assertion that after the completion of President Bush’s “surge” of forces, the U.S. is no closer to being able to extricate itself from Iraq than when it began.

“This is like Groundhog Day,” said Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del., previewing his committee’s hearing for reporters. “We’re at the same point we were at the beginning of the surge.”

Republicans will defend Bush’s policies and frame the situation in Iraq as progressing slowly, but surely, to a point where American troops can leave. They also want to quell the notion that Congress should take an active role in war policy, instead saying it should defer to Petraeus and Crocker.

“Congress has a responsibility . . . to listen to [the] testimony . . . and base our actions on the facts, not a commitment to retreat that is based on ideology rather than reality,” said House Minority Leader John A Boehner, R-Ohio.

But no lawmakers have illusions that the sessions will change minds or result in the kind of compromise that could produce bi-partisan agreement on Iraq.

“I don’t see much change occurring unless we can come up with 60 votes to overcome a filibuster in the Senate,” said Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

This is an excerpt......see the link to Flopping Aces for the complete entry....

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I thought this was a decent read on the upcoming event in the Congress.

[Dog Gone]

It’s going to be another zoo-like hearing, which is something a Democrat controlled congress loves to do.

It will change nothing.

[blam]

I still want to spit when I see Lindsey Graham's name.

[Howindependent]

Archy Bunker: “I already made up my mind, don’t confuse me with the facts”.

Democrats: “Ditto”

H

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Related thread:

Maliki Sets The SurrenderMedia Straight ( Interview with CNN) ...from the Blogosphere...

[txhurl]

---

To: DoughtyOne

It's the Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees.

FR at 2:30; roster:

Senate FR grillers

AS at 9:30a

Senate AS grillers

7 posted on 04/07/2008 12:25:37 PM PDT by txflake

[txflake]

It's the Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees.

FR at 2:30; roster:

Senate FR grillers

AS at 9:30a

Senate AS grillers

[Enchante]

Unfortunately, some of the worst spineless and queasy RINOs are on those committees, so it’s up to just a few stalwarts to stand up to the scumbags of the left. I don’t doubt that Gen. Petraeus and Amb. Crocker will acquit themselves very well, but there will be lots of idiotic statements from the Demagogues if past experience is any guide....

[Marine_Uncle]

Biden and his croonies after shooting off their idiotic mouths will hear a sober and honest report from the good general. He will make it clear that the recent uprisings in Basra and the generic afflictions Sadr and his goons perpetuate will soon be corrected as the Maliki government with increasing numbers of effective troops will take them out.
And now with this further bit of news that Maliki supported by his government has demanded no one will be able to participate in government positions if they stay attached to a given militia group, say via. their political affiliation, in short run for elected office, may just break these bastards once and for all.
I do hope the Iraqi push for a Constitutional Amendment to outlaw all militias. Then it will be perfectly legal to disband them by any means.
Obvious to many here, this should have been incorporated into their new Constitution as a separate Article.
But better late then not at all.