Liberals Renew Effort to Force Iraq Retreat

Do Congressional Democrats believe this is the only thing they were elected for?

Liberal Democratic lawmakers will push House leaders to return the Iraq War to center stage as early as next week.

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), who co-chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said late Tuesday she is preparing to reintroduce legislation calling for a troop withdrawal from Iraq and will urge leadership to move the measure in the wake of the economic stimulus package that has been the center of attention for several weeks...

"I don't think it throws it [the agenda] off track," the [Democratic leadership] aide said, and later added: "Nothing's been absolutely decided yet."

House and Senate lawmakers had not been expected to turn their attention back to Iraq until at least March - the fifth anniversary of the war is March 19 - and possibly into the summer months, when another supplemental spending request is expected from the White House.

Congress still needs to complete the funding for the efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan for 2008. The wise political strategy would be to avoid flaunting their ineffectiveness in opposing the war on terror. They have repeatedly caved and provided funding, and they will do so again. So why not quietly pass the measure? Instead, it seems that Democrats will once more raise the hopes of their antiwar base, only to cave.

This looks more and more like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football, with Pelosi and Reid in the Lucy role.