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thedrifter
07-10-07, 04:55 AM
War Is Hell, in a Handbasket

By Dana Milbank
Tuesday, July 10, 2007; A02

Some wars end in peace treaties or surrender ceremonies. The Iraq war appears destined to end in a noxious mixture of metaphors.

"This deck of cards is crashing down, and it's landing heavily on the heads of the soldiers and the Marines," Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) said in announcing legislation yesterday that would hasten a withdrawal from Iraq.

Did he mean a house of cards? And, if so, would it really land that heavily?

But there was no time to dwell on the house of cards. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), at the same news conference, gave his view on another proposal to end the war. "Is it going to be something that has some teeth in it?" he asked. "If it is, certainly I'll put my arms around it."

Suit yourself, Senator, but you should consult the Senate's attending physician before putting your arms around something with teeth in it.

There's a whole new ballgame on Capitol Hill. After falling behind the eight ball in previous efforts to end the war, lawmakers are getting back on their bicycles, moving down the field and preparing to hit it out of the park. Of course, it's never wise to count your chickens before the fat lady sings, so hold your horses. But opponents of the war, if they play their cards right, should be able to stick a fork in it soon.

Returning yesterday from a Fourth of July recess, antiwar lawmakers renewed their effort to remove troops from Iraq -- and for the first time, it appears that they may actually prevail, thanks to defections in recent days by a trio of prominent Republican senators. A plan to shorten deployments to Iraq, once derided as the "slow bleed" plan, now appears to have enough support to pass. A softer proposal to call for a redeployment of U.S. troops by next year could have the support of half the Republicans in the chamber.

Whatever the outcome, signs are that the White House will soon be forced to negotiate an end to the conflict. "The only way this president will ever change his Iraq policy will be when he looks east down Pennsylvania Avenue and realizes he has lost the support of his own party," said Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. "We're seeing that happen, and I predict we're going to see a lot more of it in the coming weeks."

But why use plain language when a metaphor will do? "The president continues to dig us into a deeper and deeper hole," Biden continued, calling for pressure on Bush "to stop digging and to start to work our way out of this war."

The prospect of an end to the Iraq war -- or at least the beginning of the end -- lured reporters to stand three deep in the aisles of the Senate television gallery yesterday to hear Reid and Webb. The gallery director hustled out Senate interns to make room for the overflow crowd. "We're getting close, so you might want to alert the network, okay, dude?" one cameraman said into his cellphone. When the duo finally faced questions, Reid had to raise his hands to quiet the shouting.

Reid prefaced his remarks by assuring that the red marks on the side of his face were the work of a dermatologist, not the White House. "I didn't get in a fight or anything," he said, then sought to start one.

"For those Senate Republicans who are saying the right things on Iraq, they must put their words into action by voting with us to change course," he said, praising the "Republican defections."

Fox News's Major Garrett asked Reid what he expected to accomplish in the coming debate. "We will find in the next couple of weeks whether the Republicans who have said publicly they think the present course should change are willing to vote with us," the senator answered. "We invite them to come with us. We put our arms around them."

He did not say anything about their teeth.

Webb, whose proposal would shorten troop deployments, admitted that he had only one Republican co-sponsor, Nebraska's Chuck Hagel. But, he added, "we have a lot of indications from offices that we've been talking to that we're going to get Republican votes."

Reid clearly wasn't expecting much cooperation. Among his first acts on the Senate floor after returning from July recess was to warn colleagues that he might shorten their August recess. "Keep your August travel plans flexible," he advised. Asked if he saw any evidence that the White House is reconsidering its Iraq approach, he answered bluntly: "None at this stage."

Others dared to predict a different result. "It will become clear this week that there is growing and bipartisan interest here in the United States Senate to set a specific deadline to force the Iraqis to make the decisions for themselves about how they will govern their nation," Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) forecast on the floor.

Webb, moving downstairs from the television studio to the Senate floor, agreed with Wyden but sought to improve on his colleague's imagery. The Virginian praised those "on the other side of the aisle who are equally interested in forging a new road to the future."

Road forgers, however, should watch for falling cards. "We are now in the fifth year of ground combat operations in Iraq," Webb repeated on the Senate floor, "and this deck of cards is coming crashing down."

Ellie