It Begins (Finally)

From Think Progress:

In a sign of the growing fissure between the White House and its congressional allies over the war, NBC News reports tonight that 11 Republican members of Congress pleaded yesterday with President Bush and his senior aides to change course in Iraq.

The group of Republicans was led by Reps. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Charlie Dent (R-PA), and the meeting included Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Karl Rove, and Tony Snow. One member of Congress called the discussion the “most unvarnished conversation they’ve ever had with the president,” and NBC’s Tim Russert said it “may have been a defining pivotal moment” in the Iraq debate.

One Republican actually told Bush that "[t]he word about the war and its progress cannot come from the White House or even you, Mr. President. There is no longer any credibility. It has to come from Gen. Petraeus." Another congressman asked Bush this question: "How can our sons and daughters spill their blood while the Iraqi government goes on vacation?"

That's a really good question, particularly given that "Iraq's maverick parliament speaker [Mahmoud al-Mashhadani] on Wednesday rejected U.S. criticism of the 275-seat legislature over its summer break plans, saying it amounted to unacceptable interference in Iraqi affairs as Vice President Dick Cheney was expected to take up the issue during a visit to Baghdad. * * *"

Last I heard, most Iraqis want the American occupation to end, and now they have the perfect tool to make that happen. Go on vacation. If the Iraqi parliament does that, then any support Bush has in Congress for this ongoing debacle will fall away faster than you can say 2008 General Election.

UPDATE: Here's more on this:

Participants in the Tuesday meeting among Bush, senior administration officials and 11 members of a moderate bloc of House Republicans said the lawmakers were unusually candid with the president, telling him that public support for the war is crumbling in their swing districts.

One told Bush that voters back home favored a withdrawal even if it meant the war was judged a loss. Rep. Tom Davis told Bush that the president's approval rating was at 5 percent in one section of his northern Virginia district.

The funny part about all of this is that we won the war. The invasion was successful. We achieved the goals of ridding Iraq of an evil dictator (Saddam's still dead, right?) and of WMD (there weren't any). It's time to bring our troops home.