Although I realize that Ted Kennedy remarks today at the National Press Club, along with his new legislation aimed at preserving the role of Congress in Iraq policy, is likely to get a good deal of press coverage over the next day or two, its important to remember that opposition to the "surge" isn't simply coming from the left. The right, in fact, may be more of a problem for the president than the left.
Want proof? The president hasn't just lost Ollie North... he's got North on Fox News saying this:
None of the soldiers, sailors, airmen, guardsmen and marines that I interviewed in my eighth trip told me they wanted more US boots on the ground. Nearly all expressed just the opposite. ‘We don’t need more American troops; we need more Iraqi troops’ was a common refrain. My concern is that incremental increase in US troop strength…as first suggested last summer during the congressional campaign sounds eerily like Lyndon Johnson’s plan to save Vietnam in the 60s by gradual escalation as a way not to lose.
When the surge fails, there will be nowhere for this president to hide.
UPDATE: Looks like Republican Senator Gordon Smith supports Kennedy's bill. Maybe bipartisanship isn't overrated after all...
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