Meanwhile, of course, the very passage of this resolution by the House, regardless of its further prospects, will encourage America's enemies in the Middle East to believe that they are winning, and redouble their efforts. And indeed, in a sense they are winning, since the members of one of America's two major parties have called, in the House of Representatives, for our troops to abandon the battlefield. Wouldn't you like to see Osama bin Laden's expression when he sees that on Al Jazeera?
Still, a realist would have to concede that the chances are that the Democrats will win their bet, or at least escape major damage if they lose it. American forces have spent four years trying to devise a way of suppressing the terrorist insurgents that have killed so many scores of thousands of their fellow Iraqis, thus far with notable lack of success. It seems unlikely that a military "surge," however well conducted, can reverse that record. And even if it does, the Democrats are entitled to hope that the American people will choose to turn over the management of America's future in the Middle East to a party not compromised by the failures of the Bush administration.
A vigorous Republican presidential candidate in 2008 might convince the voters otherwise. But who is he? Am I the only one who thinks the newest face in the Republican race, former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee, might just fill the bill?