The Leftards Defeated And In Full Retreat From Iraq

It's official: the success of the "surge" on the battlefield in Iraq has broken the campaign for retreat in Congress. The Wall Street Journal reports on a slight increase in public support for the war, even before General Petraeus's testimony this week. But the important fact is that the anti-war Democrats have lost all political momentum.

Democrats haven't yet come close to amassing the two-thirds votes needed in the House and Senate to override a presidential veto of a measure that would force an accelerated withdrawal beyond the gradual drawdown of the 30,000 "surge" troops that Mr. Bush is expected to announce tonight. The Journal/NBC poll suggests they aren't gaining on that goal.

Most crucially, the article linked to below reports that Petraeus's testimony has united Republicans, causing even wobbly "moderate" Republicans to reject any legislation mandating a retreat from Iraq.

"Petraeus Unites GOP on Pullout," S.A. Miller, Washington Times, September 13 Senate Republicans, bolstered by Army Gen. David H. Petraeus' war report this week, are closing ranks and say Democrats will continue to fall far shy of the votes needed to force a pullout from Iraq.

Republicans facing intense antiwar pressure in home states, such as Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, and the party's war critics, including Sens. Richard G. Lugar of Indiana and Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico, say the general's congressional testimony helped persuade them not to switch their votes.

"I'm supportive of a reasonable plan which they offered," Mr. Lugar said on PBS' "NewsHour" after Gen. Petraeus, US commander in Iraq, called for withdrawing about 30,000 troops by July….

In the narrowly divided Senate, Democrats have fallen at least eight votes short of the 60 votes needed to stop a filibuster of pullout legislation and far short of the 67 votes needed to override a presidential veto.

"I've spent the last couple days checking with Republicans, and they haven't moved toward Democrats," said Minority Whip Trent Lott, Mississippi Republican.
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