WaPo: Accord on Iraq War Slips Further Away (9/16/07)

[babylonsister]

PS Except for the part about Pelosi, this article is really negative to me, so read at your peril.

ANALYSIS

Accord on Iraq War Slips Further Away

By Peter Baker and Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, September 16, 2007; Page A01


When Army Gen. David H. Petraeus last week proposed withdrawing more than 20,000 U.S. troops from Iraq, some congressional Democrats nodded their heads and saw it as a positive, if insufficient, step forward. Some wanted to take credit. After all, they reasoned, the drawdown, the benchmarks report, even Petraeus's Capitol Hill testimony came about only because of Democratic pressure.

Within hours, that idea was shot down. When House Democratic leaders convened in the office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) at 5:30 p.m. Monday, strategists concluded they were already getting credit for what was happening but that voters wanted much more. So Pelosi, according to aides at the meeting, insisted that Democrats coordinate their message and dictated what that message would be: The general's plan meant 10 more years of war, or even "endless war."

Either way, what seems increasingly clear is that Washington will remain locked in an endless war over Iraq -- at least until President Bush leaves office in 16 months. Following long-awaited congressional hearings, progress reports and presidential speeches, the prospect of a grand bipartisan resolution to the extended conflict in Iraq that some hoped September would bring appears more elusive than ever.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/15/AR2007091501452.html?hpid=topnews