I smell a rat
(guest post by the best)
Gordon Smith is being given some credit for criticizing the horror we've created in Iraq. But it's worth noting that Smith is probably testing a line for Saint John McCain (™ Atrios), in addition to sensing (as I believe somebody on Daily Kos said) The Ghost of the Future Lincoln Chafee hovering.
The line is that what we SHOULD do is make more progress in whatever the heck we're doing there, which we COULD do if the Right People were in charge, but regrettably, they aren't, so we'll just have to bail and face disaster unless we hand over power to the Right People in 2008.
The idea is that anti-war voters (like those in Oregon who may or may not reelect Smith in 2008) will hear, "We should bail," and war financiers will hear, "We should spend even more lives and money and the great reward will come, at least for those of us who matter."
From his floor speech: "To fight an insurgency often takes a decade or more. It takes more troops than we have committed. It takes clearing, holding, and building so that the people there see the value of what we are doing... [But we] have cleared and left, and the insurgents have come back.... I believe we need to figure out how to fight the war on terror and to do it right. So either we clear and hold and build, or let's go home... So let's cut and run, or cut and walk, or let us fight the war on terror more intelligently than we have... I will be looking for every opportunity to clear, build, hold, and win or how to bring our troops home."