Congress eyes own window on Iraq war

[leftchick]

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0321/p01s01-uspo.html

WASHINGTON – Marking the third anniversary of the Iraq war, President Bush said US strategy will "lead to victory."
Before recessing last week, the House easily approved $67.6 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan - exactly the amount the White House had requested - and the Senate punted on a bid to censure Mr. Bush on his conduct of the war on terror.

But behind the headlines, Capitol Hill lawmakers are signaling that 2006 must be a decisive year in the Iraq war - and many of the war's vigorous defenders are looking for guidance outside the Bush administration on how to move ahead.

Exhibit A is the quiet launch of an independent, bipartisan panel to bring "fresh eyes" to the Iraq conflict. Last week, the House included $1.3 million in a defense funding bill for the panel, which will work out of the congressionally chartered US Institute for Peace here.

"The purpose of the study group is to come up with a compromise between an administration policy that no one believes in and just walking away," says Edward Luttwak, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1 of 4 think tanks supporting the effort. "The study-group process will be mysterious, but the outcome is predictable: They're going to come to the conclusion that the US should disengage, but not abandon Iraq."

[JuniperLea]

1. I hope they do conclude that disengagement is best

But that won't stop the war prezdent. No proof of WMD didn't stop him, Hussein's compliance with UN sanctions didn't stop him... there's oil in them thar hills!

[Inland]

2. Yeah. Compromise with the admin policy nobody believes in.

That's rational. How do you compromise with a permanent war? What's half of forever?