As noted yesterday, "succeed" is the Rove replacement for "win," when talking about Iraq.
Previewing a speech he is to give in Cleveland this afternoon, Mr. Bush said he would talk about “the war on terror and our need to succeed in Iraq.” He has long called the military campaign in Iraq part of a global struggle against terrorism.
On the other side of the domestic war is a Democratic Congress which seems pusillanimous and fragmented. Pusillanimous in its refusal to put the screws to the substantial Republican minority as well as the White House, and fragmented by an earnest attempt to hold simultaneous, crucial (but so far not very effective) investigations.
Most of us think there's plenty out there to hang and president, the vice, and their advisers. Maybe we're wrong. But at least the Democratic leadership could try to give an impression of cohesion and strength.
A growing number of lawmakers, including several prominent Republicans as well as Democratic opponents of the war, are now voicing skepticism and pessimism about Iraq. They seem sure to use a Senate debate on a military-spending bill this week as an occasion for a renewed barrage against the administration’s policy. Some critics will try to attach troop-withdrawal timetables to the bill.
That could be simply New-York-Times-speak. Possibly the Democrats are doing more than "voicing skepticism" and "trying to attach..."
With the latest revelations about Gonzales' easily proven lies set against a continuing claim of "executive privilege," Congress should stand a little taller, make some sounds like the loading of weapons, grab the media by the throat and make them cower a little. Otherwise a review of the history of 2007-2008 may read, "Nobody won, but Bush succeeded."