1397 Days And Counting

Borrowing from Keith Olbermann, it's now been 1397 days since George Bush declared the mission accomplished in Iraq.  And after nearly four years of unending violence, and the failure of every new "plan for victory" from the White House, the American people have, both in the voting booth and in the latest polls, made their feelings clear; 67% disapprove of the current sitution in Iraq, 56% want our troops withdrawn, regardless of conditions on the ground, 67% oppose George Bush's plan to escalate the war, and 58% favor Murtha's plan that would require fully trained, equipped and rested troops.  That's what the American people want.  But what will they get?  

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Monday he wanted to delay votes on a measure that would repeal the 2002 war authorization and narrow the mission in Iraq.  [...]

"Iraq is going to be there — it's just a question of when we get back to it," Reid said...

Yes, it is still going to be there, and our troops will continue to die there.  But not to worry, we'll be getting back to it soon.  Nothing substantial mind you, but we will continue "ratcheting up pressure for a change."  And that's great, because everyone knows how the White House responds to pressure from the Democrats.  And what about on the House side?  How are they doing on building support for the Murtha plan?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., meanwhile, said she doesn't support tying war funding to strict training and readiness targets for U.S. troops.

The comments distanced her from Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., who has said he wants to use Congress' spending power to force a change in policy in Iraq, by setting strict conditions on war funding.

That would be the plan that 58% of Americans favor.  

And how does all of this reflect on the Democratic Party?  

The developments on both sides of the Capitol reflected a new level of disarray in Democratic ranks on Iraq.

While the "Dems in disarray" meme is usually a tired talking point, in this case it seems to be dead-on. We keep talking about doing "something," but nothing is getting done.  According to Dick Cheney, if this latest "new way forward" in Iraq fails, we will:

...keep trying until we get it right.

Whatever getting it right means. This administration has no intention of even beginning the process of getting out of Iraq, no matter what Congress says or what the American people want.  There's only one way to pressure this administration, so the question is, when are we going to do it?