Whose strategy are Dems criticizing in Iraq?

AP/NY Times:

One senator said U.S. troops are routing out al-Qaida in parts of Iraq. Another insisted President Bush's plan to increase troops has caused tactical momentum.

One even went so far on Wednesday as to say the argument could be made that U.S. troops are winning.

These are not Bush-backing GOP die-hards, but Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin, Bob Casey and Jack Reed. Even Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services committee, said progress was being made by soldiers.

The suggestions by them and other Democrats in recent days that at least a portion of Bush's strategy in Iraq is working is somewhat surprising, considering the bitter exchanges on Capitol Hill between the Democratic majority and Republicans and Bush. Democrats have long said Bush's policies have been nothing more than a complete failure.

The Democrats' choice to acknowledge the military's progress in Iraq signals support for the troops, a message that voters want to hear. But they still heap criticism on Bush and his Iraq strategy, which promises to be a prominent issue in next year's presidential election.

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It is hard to overstate how dishonest this criticism of the strategy is. The Democrats are politicizing war strategy developed by the very military they say they are supporting. Before the surge the strategy was developed by Gen. Abizaid and Gen. Casey. When it was not getting the results he wanted President Bush asked for a new strategy and General Petraeus and his team developed the surge strategy which the President accepted and has backed. At no point was he developing military strategy and telling the military to implement it. It is disgusting and dishonest for the Democrats who now see the new strategy working to say that the President's strategy has failed. It is this kind of rank dishonesty that makes me question why anyone supports this party.