Pre-spun Iraq Surge Report: FAILED. How will Colorado's leaders respond?

by: Zappatero

08/30/07 @ 08:26:37 AM MDT

The Washington Post has the pre-spun White House-General Petraeus surge report from Iraq. By almost every measure the surge has failed to compel the elected Iraqi government to agree and/or implement its own internal security and political measures. Our soldiers gave them precious time with their lives; the Iraqi government went on vacation.

In short: the surge has failed -

Iraq has failed to meet all but three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress, according to a draft of a Government Accountability Office report. The document questions whether some aspects of a more positive assessment by the White House last month adequately reflected the range of views the GAO found within the administration.

Just one example of how Bush will try to spin the current status is in the speech he gave just 2 days ago to the American Legion - watch the switch to "local" from the original surge goal of forcing Iraqi's national parliament into action:

Security progress must come first.  And only then can political progress follow -- first locally, and then in Baghdad.  So it's going to take time for the recent progress we have seen in security to translate into political progress.

I can guess how much time Bush thinks his plan needs to succeed: just enough to get him out of office and firmly ensconced in Crawford, TX.

With this report, and the unspun facts, comes the next crucial question on whether our leaders will enable Bush to escape the fate of his failures: how will Colorado's elected representatives react to the obvious reality of the president's failed policy?

Brian Baird, a Democratic congressman from Washington was impressed with the surge dog-and-pony show and promptly pissed off his supporters by saying we should stay the course. Our own Doug Lamborn was similarly impressed. Thanks to Angie scaring her in '06, Marilyn Musgrave is making some sensible noises about Iraq. But I doubt the White House team will let her stray.

Bush is going to want more time, that's for sure. He also wants $50 more Billion in funds. (That's on top of a pending $147 Billion.) And he's not the least concerned with the status of our Army. 

The Center for American Progress has developed an exit plan that would be complete within 12 months. Will Colorado's congressional delegation give Bush his free pass, or will they truly support out troops and start the process immediately? If they listen to their consciences, the answer will be clear. If they listen to the spin.........