For her Charlotte’s Web column this week, Charlotte Hays profiles the anti-war movement:
“For the hardcore anti-war movement, there is no need to wait and hear what General David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, has to say when he updates Congress on Iraq on September 15. If in September we learn that drastic changes in the way the war is being fought are having positive results and that there is a reasonable chance of a successful conclusion, they still want out of Iraq.
“Hatred of George Bush or a belief that war is intrinsically wrong or opposition to this particular war-or whatever-combines to make them determined to end the war now, no matter the consequences. Some appear willing to accept a bloodbath in Iraq if we can get our soldiers home sooner rather than later. That is to be expected of the anti-war movement.
“But various members of Congress may be wedging themselves into a position where, from a political standpoint, they cannot afford success in Iraq. The heated rhetoric and recent sleepover in Congress have made some war opponents so vociferously and visibly tied with immediate withdrawal-before the Petraeus report, which had been agreed-upon earlier-as to introduce an important new dynamic: victory in Iraq would actually hurt them.”
Read more here.