Senator Reid: It’s Not A Compromise, It’s A Capitulation

Dear Senator Reid,

Who was it that, in February, said:

This war is a serious situation. It involves the worst foreign policy mistake in the history of this country.

Oh. Right. It was you.

Who was it that, in February, also said:

There can be no purely military solution in Iraq.

And:

At a time when President Bush is asking our troops to shoulder a larger and unsustainable burden policing a civil war, his failed policies have left us increasingly isolated in Iraq and less secure here at home.

Oh. Right. That was also you.

And who was it, in July, who was reported to have said: 

…he now saw ending the war as a moral duty, and even if the Senate again falls short… would turn again and again to Iraq until either the president relents or enough Republicans join Democrats to overrule Mr. Bush.

Yes. Again. You.

So, what has changed? Why are you now saying you will “compromise” with the Republicans, not to actually end the word, but to just put some meaningless babble into the next bill that will continue it? Could it be all the good news that’s recently come out of Iraq?

Like the new National Intelligence Estimate that says, in effect, that the Bush strategy in Iraq has failed?

Or the nearly two-thirds of the more than a hundred experts surveyed for the Terrorism Index, who believe that the “surge” has either failed, or even had a negative impact?

Or the Fund for Peace saying Iraq is near a total collapse?

Or the recent report in the Observer that fatigue is crippling our army?

Or the recent Los Angeles Times report that: “As military and political leaders prepare to deliver a progress report on the conflict to Congress next month, many soldiers are increasingly disdainful of the happy talk that they say commanders on the ground and White House officials are using in their discussions about the war.”?

Or the new military report that our Army soldiers are committing suicide at the highest rate in 26 years?

Or the report by Oxfam and other aid providers that “the number of Iraqi children who are born underweight or suffer from malnutrition has increased sharply since the US-led invasion,” and that “around 8 million Iraqis – almost a third of the population – (are) in need of emergency aid.”?

Or that our puppet “government” in Iraq recently missed all the benchmarks that were supposed to measure its progress?

Or that The Pentagon has lost track of about 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi security forces?

Or the report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction that “”Iraq’s national government is refusing to take possession of thousands of American-financed reconstruction projects, forcing the United States either to hand them over to local Iraqis, who often lack the proper training and resources to keep the projects running, or commit new money to an effort that has already consumed billions of taxpayer dollars.”?

Or that six years since Shock ‘n’ Awe, we still can’t keep the lights on?

Or that thirty percent of the weapons given to Iraqi security forces- some 190,000 assault rifles and pistols- are missing?

Or that Iraqi security is still lagging and incapable of doing its job, and the Iraqi army won’t be self-sufficient for years?

Or that a major Shiite faction won’t work with our puppet government, while  Sunni leaders say they’ll keep attacking until we leave?

Or that the United Nations says conditions for Iraqi children are worse than they were a year ago?

Or that Britain is leaving Iraq, with its tail between its legs?

Or that Australia’s secretly planning to leave, next year?

Or that Turkey keeps hinting that they might invade Kurdish Northern Iraq?

Or that a July Washington Post-ABC poll found that “(m)ost Americans see President Bush as intransigent on Iraq and prefer that the Democratic-controlled Congress make decisions about a possible withdrawal of U.S. forces”?

Or that Bush has made clear that the war won’t end while he is playing president?

Please, Senator, explain. Are you afraid of Bush’s historically low approval ratings? What is it? The American people want and deserve to know. People are being murdered and maimed. Every day. This isn’t a compromise, it’s a capitulation. Why, Senator? Why?