So to make the President accountable, they are attempting to take away his ability to control strategy for the war? Pelosi is the one having a problem understanding the reality of the situation. Democrats pushing for retreat will get lots of help from the media, and they may get some short term political advantage, but they will not be able to divorce themselves from a resulting defeat in Iraq if they get their way.
With the president acting as commander-in-chief, he has made the decisions and has faced the consequences, including a costly political price paid last November. When Democrats insert themselves into the role of directing war policy, they buy into the outcome. In this case, when they are attempting to force retreat, they are buying some responsibility (and accountability as Pelosi put it) for defeat in Iraq.
The war in Iraq is not, as so many vain, self-important opportunistic politicians believe, a matter of U.S. party politics. It is a battle for our security and for our very existence. If you doubt that statement, just consider the consequences of an early withdrawal from Iraq, which even most opposed to the war admit would be an incredibly unstable and dangerous situation. Add to that the message a U.S. defeat would send to the world. It would seem to vindicate Osama bin Laden’s opinion that we are soft and don’t have the will to fight or the capacity to endure losses. That image of weakness only emboldens terrorists and invites more attacks. Compare that to what could be gained by success in Iraq – not only in the immediate advantage of having a free democracy in the heart of the Middle East, but in the statement that it would make to the world and to terrorist leaders and their potential recruits about our willingness to fight them, even at great cost.
This should not be about doing whatever will win one party or the other political advantage, but it should be about what is in the best long term interest of the country. Unfortunately, it appears political considerations are playing a significant role and, even more unfortunately, it seems that, yet again, for the Democrats to win, America must lose.