Democrats ask: Has the surge worked?

[unhappycamper]

Democrats ask: Has the surge worked?
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Apr 7, 2008 12:50:45 EDT

A key point of contention this week as Congress reviews U.S. policy in Iraq policy will be what constitutes progress in a country still rocked by violence.

Ahead of two days of testimony before four congressional committees about the next steps in Iraq, Republicans and Democrats seem to disagree on whether the surge of more than 30,000 U.S. combat troops that began a year ago and is now winding down has had any lasting impact on the future of the turbulent country.

“Where are we after the surge? Back to where we were before it started, with 140,000 troops in Iraq and no end in sight,” said Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman.

Biden and other Democrats said the purpose of the surge was to give the Iraqi government breathing room to make progress on political reconciliation, halt sectarian violence and train its own security forces.

“The best that can be said is we’ve gone from drowning in Iraq to treading water,” Biden said Saturday. “That’s better, but we can’t keep doing it without exhausting ourselves. Every extra day we stay in Iraq with 140,000 troops, that is exactly what we’re doing. And the price we’re paying keeps getting steeper.”


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/military_iraqhearings_preview_040708w/

[xchrom]

1. recommend -- just underlines the blood and treasure aspect of this elective war.

we can't afford this war -- we couldn't when it started and we most certainly can't now.