Here they go again

First we had lost the war. Now the surge has failed, if you listen to Democrats. This pronouncement comes despite the fact that the military has said it will be at least September before they can make preliminary assessments. September is three months away.

op US congressional Democrats bluntly told President George W. Bush Wednesday that his Iraq troop "surge" policy was a failure.

Senate Majority leader Harry Reid and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi challenged the president over Iraq by sending him a letter, ahead of a White House meeting later on Wednesday.

"As many had forseen, the escalation has failed to produce the intended results," the two leaders wrote.

"The increase in US forces has had little impact in curbing the violence or fostering political reconciliation.

"It has not enhanced Americas national security. The unsettling reality is that instances of violence against Iraqis remain high and attacks on US forces have increased.

"In fact, the last two months of the war were the deadliest to date for US troops.

The letter appeared to preview a fresh showdown over Iraq between anti-war Democrats and the president, just a few weeks after Bush forced his foes to strip troop withdrawal timelines from a 100 billion dollar emergency war budget.

It also came a few days after the US military mourned its 3,500th soldier killed in action in Iraq.

Pelosi and Reid told Bush in the letter that they planned to send him new legislation to "limit the US mission in Iraq, begin the phased redeployment of US forces, and bring the war to a responsible end."

On Tuesday, Reid said that Senate Democrats would attach troop withdrawal deadlines to a Defense Department Authorization bill, due to be debated within weeks.

Anyone who can't see that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are trying to force a loss in Iraq simply has blinders on. They're just far too eager to proclaim the whole thing a lost cause.

And of course, unless they're just complete idiots, they know Bush will simply veto any timelines and restrictions they attempt to place on him. This is the 'death by a thousand bills' approach. Keep sending doomed bill after doomed bill until Bush gives up. It's not the action of a responsible leader, but then the Democrats are not leading. They're still playing opposition party to Bush's agenda.