With al Qaeda in retreat Dems remain desperate for our defeat in Iraq

Noam Levey:

Nearly two months after Democrats suspended their legislative push to force a withdrawal from Iraq, House Democratic leaders restarted their campaign Wednesday with a measure to compel President Bush to bring troops home.

But with Republican resistance to congressional intervention in the war stronger than ever, there appears little chance that this gambit will advance any further than previous failed efforts.

On Wednesday, a $50-billion war funding bill that would order the president to start withdrawing troops within 30 days and set a goal of completing the pullout by the end of next year passed, 218 to 203.

It attracted just four Republican votes, dozens short of a two-thirds majority needed to overcome a presidential veto.

And in the closely divided Senate, many Democrats concede that they probably won't get close to the 60 votes necessary to end a promised filibuster, which would effectively kill the bill.

"They seem determined to keep bringing up resolutions that they know the president won't agree to," said Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, a moderate Republican who has urged Bush to adopt a new strategy in Iraq but has rejected all timelines. "We look pretty silly when we lecture Baghdad on being in political stalemate and insist on staying in one ourselves."

Earlier in the day, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino accused congressional Democrats of planning "to send the president a bill that they know he will veto."

"This is for political posturing and to appease radical groups," she said.

Democratic leaders countered that they had the broader public on their side. "Democrats are committed to bringing the American people what they deserve and demand," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco). "An end to President Bush's 10-year, trillion-dollar war."

The new showdown over Iraq war funding comes after a period of relative quiet in the congressional war debate, following the September demise of several Democratic efforts to alter U.S. policy.

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Pelosi is continuing one of the Democrats' big lies about the 2006 elections. It was not a referendum on the war and in fact the Democrats ran away from the accusation that they would pursue a cut and run strategy. Only days after the election they confirmed this when Harry Reid said that they would not try to cut off funds. The exit polls after the election showed the number one issue was corruption. The war was about the fourth issue down and it was an issue about changing to a more productive strategy which is exactly what the President did.

The Democrats are grossly misreading the current polls on Iraq too and their situation will only worsen as the public becomes aware of our success and the Democrats desires to thwart that success. By scheduling these futile attempts to legislate defeat, the Democrats continue to give Republicans a record to run against in 2008.