Senators McCain, Lieberman, Cornyn, Graham, DeMint, et al, would not frog-march the troops home. Nor would they give up on the Iraqi mission. Nor would they send mixed messages to the world, the Iraqi people, the American people, the jihadists and the troops. Nor would they enlist in ignominious no-confidence votes lacking any force and signifying nothing except irresolution and confusion.
Some quotes. . .
John McCain: "I would urge Senator Warner to look at the history of two recent conflicts: Bosnia and Kosovo. . . . We went in with overwhelming force and stopped the sectarian violence, the same kind of sectarian violence that Senator Warner doesn't want us to intervene in."
Alexander Downer, foreign minister of Australia: "I hope the American people understand the importance of not retreating and thinking the world's problems aren't theirs."
Henry Kissinger, former secretary of state: "(Adding 21,000 troops) is the best way to get the maneuvering room for the changes in deployment and strategy that will be required."
And. . .
David Petraeus, recently confirmed in the Senate as the commander of allied forces in Iraq: "The situation in Iraq is dire. The stakes are high. There are no easy choices. The way ahead will be very hard. Progress will require determination and difficult U.S. and Iraqi actions - especially the latter - as ultimately the outcome will be determined by the Iraqis. But hard is not hopeless."
President Bush: "It is ironic that the Senate would vote 81-0 to send a general into Iraq who believes he needs more troops to do the job and then send a contradictory message."
Fouad Ajami, author and Johns Hopkins professor: "(Contemporary Iraq is a) country midwifed by American power. We were never meant to stay there long. Iraq will never approximate the expectations we projected onto it in more innocent times. But we should be able to grant it the gift of acceptance, and yet another dose of patience as it works its way out of its current torments."