GOP Now Upbeat From Petraeus & adopts new political plan

[EV_Ares]

(((This goes to show you Petraeus is more concerned & interested in furthering his career than concern for his troops. He along with this administration continue to fuel the fires of this war & lead this country down a very dangerous path for their own idealogy and purpose. It is time for the Dem leadership to get some balls & confront them on this)))



By formally announcing yesterday that he expects a withdrawal of 30,000 troops by next summer, Petraeus gave Republicans a tangible figure on which to hang.

Gen. David Petraeus’ testimony gave congressional Republicans something they have been missing for months: a political strategy that gives them enough confidence to defend an unpopular war right in the middle of an election year. Both parties had spent weeks preparing for the Iraq commander’s first day of testimony Monday, and the reaction was divided on predictable lines. “Straight-forward — an even-handed assessment,” said Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). “Sugarcoating and spin,” countered Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.).

Despite dueling interpretations, by day’s end it was clear Petraeus has for now reframed the Iraq debate for precisely the group of people most in need of bolstering: Republicans who have spent much of the year pining — in private and sometimes in public — for something other than more pleas for patience from President Bush. At the start of the summer, the expectation was widespread even in GOP circles that Republican support for Bush and a fifth year of war was on the verge of collapsing.

At the end of the summer, there is scant evidence that enough Republicans have defected to force the administration’s hand. By embracing Petraeus, GOP lawmakers are also embracing a military plan that would have troop levels still at 130,000 nearly a year from now, just months before they’ll next be facing voters.

“People want to know if the surge is working and that we are winning,” said Rep. Adam Putnam (R-Fla.). “And from a military standpoint, all of us can say that.”

The generally upbeat reaction from Republicans illustrated how much more comfortable the party is standing with a general than with a lame-duck president who polls show long ago lost credibility on Iraq with many voters.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0907/5753.html

[TwilightGardener]

1. Let 'em keep supporting the war. Nothing like being on the wrong side of history.

[ananda]

2. What a joke!

Add 30k, withdraw 30k.. everything's the same as it was.

And it was never good.

[Ganja Ninja]

3. OK lets review the current strategy.

1. Push our exhausted military to the breaking point while simultaneously arming our past and potential enemies.


Brilliant! What could possibly go wrong?

[Jim__]

4. Withdraw 30,000 troops 3 months before the '08 election.

Claim ( in August of '08) that we'll withdraw another 30,000 soon after the election.

At least we know this is about national security and not politics.