Democrats want to let the enemy off the ropes

Steve Russell:

'War is just like boxing," said Gen. George Patton. "When you get your opponent on the ropes, you must keep punching the hell out of him and not let him recover."

Today in Iraq, the enemy is on the ropes. Our Air Force has pummeled Al Qaeda with 40,000 pounds of bombs. Soldiers and Marines have reduced northern Al Qaeda safe havens to rubble. Contractors are delivering tons of supplies and securing our diplomats. One-time insurgent strongholds are returning to peace.

One would expect aspiring political leaders not only to laud our troops for their great work - which all of them go through the motions of doing - but also to admit that a total pullout on a predetermined schedule might be just a tad premature.

Instead, the 2008 candidates for President on the Democratic side stubbornly deny the possible troop victory that's finally in our sights in a grotesque swap for political victory.

They're basically rooting for our defeat over there - which has me rooting, harder than ever, for their defeat here.

Consider Sen. Hillary Clinton. At the most recent debate, she was asked if she'd reassessed her position that the next President will "have a war to end in Iraq," in light of recent progress. Her robotic response: "I'm committed to withdraw our troops and to put the Iraqi government on notice that their time is running out." She added, "There is no military solution."

But it's precisely the declines in violence across Iraq that are finally allowing political gains to begin to kick in.

Sen. Clinton does not let the facts get in the way of a political argument. "I'm looking to bring our troops home, starting within 60 days of my becoming President," she promises. This from the candidate whom many Democrats consider the "conservative" choice on Iraq.

For his part, Sen. Barack Obama always tells voters he wants to be as careful getting out as we were careless getting in. But he also promises speedy withdrawal, regardless of the dynamics on the ground.

Rather than cling to their pessimism with every fiber of their being, a clear-eyed potential commander in chief would admit that conditions have never looked so promising in Iraq.

...

The Democrats want to lose the war in Iraq. If you listen to their rhetoric it is clear that they want Iraq to be a failure that they can use to argue in the future against the use of force. Many in the Democrat base also demand this loss.