Democrats Promise an End to Anti-Terror Efforts in Iraq

The headline is for emphasis; what the Democrats are really promising is to end all our efforts in Iraq -- including anti-terror efforts, training of Iraqi security forces, and anything else you can think of:

More than three dozen Democratic congressional candidates banded together yesterday to promise that, if elected, they will push for legislation calling for an immediate drawdown of troops in Iraq that would leave only a security force in place to guard the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad...

The starkest difference between the group's proposal, dubbed a "Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq," and those embraced by many senior Democrats and the party's presidential candidates is that it rejects the idea of leaving U.S. troops on the ground to train Iraqi security forces or engage in anti-terrorism operations. The group instead calls for a dramatic increase in regional diplomacy and the deployment of international peacekeeping forces, if necessary.

While it is both novel and reckless to propose withdrawing all U.S. troops from Iraq, these Democrats share one critical element with the Democrats already elected to power in Washington -- they refuse to commit to a timetable. Nevertheless, the anti-war wingnut crowd should really believe them this time, since they pinky-swore it.

The document also seems to follow the Obama Doctrine on Iraq: we're getting out as fast as we can, regardless of conditions on the ground, and we reserve the right to get back in if we learn that al Qaeda is, in fact, operating in the country.