But although Congress came close to legislating defeat over the summer, progress on the ground and a good assessment and presentation in September turned back the tide of retreat.
Congress has given up on legislating defeat. Why?
Democrats are coming face to face with the fact that there's a war on -- and that Americans prefer success to failure. If the choice is between stalemate and withdrawal, as it seemed to be in November 2006, they may favor withdrawal; but if the choice is between victory and withdrawal, they don't want to quit -- or to undermine the effort.
I've long held (and mentioned my belief in this publication) that we are not so much casualty averse as we are defeat averse. Absent progress visible to voters, voters would rather cut our losses. And so it seemed to voters through fall 2006, at least (though not to me, as I've seen progress--if not ininterrupted--throughout our war). Now with progress more evident, the public is no longer leaning toward withdrawal.
We like victory. We've essentially beaten the Baathists, the jihadis, the nationalists, and the foreign jihadis; and are pounding the Iranian-backed Shia death squads.
If our Left insists it does not like American victories, the public will make them pay in the next election.
