...the more things stay the same? (or 'Will the Dems continue current Iraq policy?')

In recent days, some pundits have been expecting two powerful political nexus' to converge....

The first has occurred, with the electoral victory of the Democratic (read 'anti-war') Party.

The second had been expected to be the release of the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group's Blue Ribbon Report on how the US should proceed Iraq.

Many have expected the report, presented by a group run by those with history slanted towards the diplomatic solution vice the military one (along with a history of abandonment of Iraqis in the hour of need), to present two alternative policies. Either 'Cut & Run', or 'Stability First'.

The Democrats have stated that they will support whatever the report proposes, mainly because any option presented will be different than the current Bush policy. And if there is one policy that the Dems do have on Iraq, it is to do the opposite of what Bush does.

Unfortunately for them, the Dems might find themselves painted into a corner of supporting the status quo in Iraq. This might be so because Reuel Marc Gerecht, former CIA clandestine services officer and ISG advisor, writes in the WSJ that the report offers no magic answers. In fact, it seems to recognize the futility of any form of abandonment.

As will soon be apparent, the Iraq Survey Group, of which Mr. Gates is a member and to which I'm an adviser, has not discovered any way for the U.S. to exit Iraq -- except under catastrophic conditions. Its recommendations will probably be the least helpful of all the blue-ribbon commissions in Washington since World War II because it cannot escape from an unavoidable reality: We either declare defeat and withdraw completely tout de suite, or we surge troops into Baghdad and fight. The ISG will surely try to find some middle ground between these positions, which, of course, doesn't exist.

Perhaps if they had read Fred Kagan in the Weekly Standard, they might have shied away from the idea of leaving.

Now, since the Dems have wedded themselves to the idea of support whatever comes out of the ISG, they may have the unpleasant duty of staying the course in Iraq. But given their proven track record of not sticking to their campaign promises, I would suspect that the Dems would press on with a policy of abandonment, no matter what the ISG proposal might say....

One hint of that is the fact of who they are bringing in to serenade the new Congress. None other than George McGovern

Hat Tip: Foundation for the Defense of Democracies & Mudville Gazette