[Arrowhead1952]

sources as the New York Times, which can hardly be described as having been a cheerleader for the attack

I know several US troops who came back after 15 - 18 months in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and they were shocked at the negative reports they heard on the news. Almost all of them said something to the effect of: "That must be a different war than we were in the past few months".

[johnny7]

Dilemma with Iraq... dilemma with drilling... dilemma with nuclear power... dilemma with refineries... dilemma with coal... but have no fear, the DBM will “explain” how the greedy Republicans created this mess.

[tbpiper]

(This, of course, would have been an absolute political disaster for the Bush administration, as Mr. Reid no doubt knew and hoped.)

What gets me about this is that the democrats are more than willing to let thousands of innocent Iraqis die if it gives their party a political talking point.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

And there is this:

Sadr Becomes Traitor, Iranian Agent, Against Iraq

[Billthedrill]

The smartest thing the Dems could do politically is to take this off the table altogether, making it a non-partisan issue. This makes them look statesmanlike (at least for anyone who can't remember their previous five years of reckless posturing) and gives Hussein his first foreign policy "decision" which is actually no decision at all.

It isn't likely, however, that the screaming netroots are going to lie down for that one. They want their withdrawal as a public repudiation of Bush and an affirmation that they were right about the war all along, no matter what it ends up costing. Hussein needs their passion and their connections (not to mention their money) and so the broad-minded statesman pose, although clearly the better option, may not be possible.

In point of fact, however, it's the one he's going to be stuck with should he get elected, because by then anything but the steady withdrawal that is actually the status quo is going to set him up for the blame for anything negative to come out of it at all. The MSM can only cover for him so much. If I were he I'd risk the nonpartisan pose, but I'm not and he won't. IMHO.

[xzins]

I hadn’t really thought about it, but assume that Chessani & Wuterich get appealed for such a long time that the US decides its time in Iraq is over.

What impact would a US end to its major presence in Iraq have on the Haditha case?

Would it no longer be relevant due to decreased need to impress our Iraqi “friends” with how “just” we are in dealing with our own troops?

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Ron Paul is eating crow over this too.