Bush Mission AccomplishedHEADS UP: Former DoJ counsel Monica Goodling will appear before the House Judiciary Committee this morning; Christy will be live blogging when that begins, and looseheadprop will provide a perspective before hand.

One by one, Democratic leaders tried to put the best face they could on the reality that they do not have enough votes to force an obstinate President to accept a timetable or binding benchmarks on the Iraq supplemental funding bill. It was a painful moment, a major disappointment to those who hoped that somehow the Democrats could find a clever way to defy the basic math. But we all knew from last week’s vote on Feingold-Reid we are still many votes short of overriding a veto. Hundreds more will die as these people and their families pay the price of waiting for those votes. Every member who fails to vote to end this madness is responsible.

The Supplemental funding bill lasts through September; the President needs a new authorization to fund his wars for the next fiscal year, when we will demand those votes again. But the best excuse the Democrats have against the charge they “caved” or “blinked” is one the Republicans gave them: that come September, they will hold the President accountable before passing next year’s appropriation. Really.

Meanwhile, the regime has been laying the groundwork for September’s “debate.” For weeks, the White House has used the words “al Qaeda” in every other sentence, but this is not simply the same dishonest argument that the people who attacked us on 9/11 are fighting in Iraq — though the President himself made that equation in a statement a week ago. The evolved argument is that Iraq’s al Qaeda knock off has become so established that they are (1) funding the parent organization in Pakistan/Afghanistan, (2) providing the inspiration/model for extreme jihadists elsewhere, including Lebanon and (3) causing, along with Iranian explosives, the violence in Iraq. The facts have been fixed to fit the policy.

Every argument that Americans accepted without question for invading Afghanistan – that it would remain a haven for OBL and al Qaeda unless we invaded and occupied that country — will now be used for the continuing occupation of Iraq. Even the Democrats’ “withdrawal” proposals envision leaving behind enough troops to train Iraqi security forces and to “fight al Qaeda,” since the Democrats have always been willing to fight al Qaeda.

Come September General Petraeus will likely report the “surge” is working in some places, but not others, but it’s not enough, so we need to do both more of the same and adjust. We’re being prepped to accept higher levels of violence and to avoid measuring “success” based on less violence. And in yesterday’s WaPo, David Ignatius described the next “new” strategy fed to him by Administration/military officials. Ready? We’re going to train the Iraq security forces, so that the Iraqi government can take more responsibility, while we push them to meet certain benchmarks for political accommodation. If that sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the strategy Petraeus’ predecessors followed before they argued against the “surge.” Nothing has changed, and we’re in this endless cycle of alternating failed strategies, but this time will be different. Lieberman will tell us so in the WSJ. Rinse and repeat.

I have often argued here that Congress cannot stop the Bush/Cheney neocon wars (add new covert operations in Iran) until the country removes Bush and Cheney from office and gets a President who wants to end the occupation and is committed to defeat the dark ideological forces that have the nation by the throat. I strongly favor starting impeachment hearings with the regime’s Iraq deceptions and degrading our national honor being the lead article(s), followed closely by the subversion of the rule of law and administration of justice at home. There are reasons why the country is not ready for impeachment, but I see no reason not to begin; let the media debate that, however badly, as the country watches Iraq disintegrate and the scandals unfold. The country undoubtedly wants this regime over, but they can be brought to the realization that impeachment is the proper tool for bringing that about and that waiting until 2009 requires too great a cost in lives, treasure and honor.

Regardless, prospects for any anti-war strategy should improve by September as the war wears on and investigations continue. Every hearing, every subpoena, every disclosure that moves us closer to these goals is a success; pressing Congress to vote against this funding bill, voting no confidence in Gonzales or starting his impeachment are all helpful. We’ve got to keep at it, because the only thing worse than getting our butts kicked is to give up. Ain’t. Gonna. Happen.

Related posts:

  1. Jeb Bush: Stop Blaming My Brother for Driving the Country Off a Cliff
  2. Memo to the White House: You Can’t Win an Unpopular War (And Stop Quoting George W. Bush)
  3. Rahm’s Whipping on the Afghanistan War Supplemental — Will You?
  4. Brad Sherman to Vote No On Supplemental — 34 Down, 5 to Go
  5. Late Night: Bush Wars II: Seed of Dicky