Senate approves Petraeus, Odierno new posts

Washington Times:

Senate Democrats, who cooled their anti-war rhetoric as the Iraq body count plummeted and America's economic woes stole the headlines, insist the overwhelming vote Thursday to promote the top two U.S. generals in Iraq was not a vindication of President Bush's war policy.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid a year ago declared "this war is lost, and the surge is not accomplishing anything" and said he still found the war effort wanting Thursday as he joined a 95-2 vote to confirm a new appointment for Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq and author of the troop-surge strategy.

"Our current Iraq strategy is making America less safe," the Nevada Democrat said. "Military readiness is down; Afghanistan is slipping further into violence; Pakistan remains in crisis; and Osama bin Laden is still on the loose."

Neither party has pushed the war issue in recent months, as the improved situation in Iraq undercut Democrats' chief complaint and Republicans enjoyed a respite from defending the universally unpopular war.

The confirmation vote nevertheless provided an opportunity for Republicans to crow softly and Democrats to renew calls for a pullout.

"The counterinsurgency strategy has brought about results that are nothing short of remarkable," said Sen. James M. Inhofe, Oklahoma Republican. "This never would have been possible if we had yielded to the cut-and-run crowd."

"If we had failed to keep our commitment there, today Iraq would undoubtedly be more violent and politically unstable, and subject to greater Iranian influence," he said. "General Petraeus and Lieutenant General [Raymond T.] Odierno have played an invaluable role in these successes, and will continue to benefit our nation through their leadership in the war on terrorism."

The confirmation vote elevated Gen. Petraeus to the head of U.S. Central Command, or CentCom, the military theater stretching from the Horn of Africa, across the Middle East and into Central Asia that oversees all operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

His right-hand man in Iraq, Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, was confirmed in a 96-1 vote to take over as U.S. commander in Iraq.

Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, said the votes were not an acknowledgement that the generals helped turn around the Iraq war.

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Durbin's statement reflects an ignorance of what happened in Iraq that would be astounding were it not so obviously dishonest. The Republicans are being far to nice to the Democrats on this issue. They should instead be making them pay a political price for being so obviously wrong about such an important matter.

I see no excuse for letting them off the hook for the 60 or so votes they had last year to lose the war we were winning, largely because these two generals changed our approach to the war. Harry Reid's statements are so illogical as to be laughable. Only the MoveOn crowd could believe such nonsense. It is this kind of attitude that should disqualify Democrats from having a voice on national security issues.

Republicans should be pummeling the Democrats on the war issue and not doing it gently.