Anti-War Groups Flounder as Surge Works

I never thought I'd see this in the Washington Post:

Limited and over-promoted as it was, the vote on the Baath Party legislation also provided a contrast to developments in Iraq a year ago, when a full-scale civil war between Sunnis and Shiites appeared to be unstoppable. To a large extent, the sectarian violence has subsided; most of the killings occurring now stem from the attempt of a reeling al-Qaeda to reassert itself. The worst mistake the United States could make would be to allow its frustration with Iraqi political leaders to cause it to abandon the military strategy that has delivered that progress. As long as Baghdad neighborhoods are continuing to recover, refugees are trickling home, and Sunni and Shiite militias are helping to keep the peace rather than hunting each other, the U.S. mission in Iraq will be serving a vital purpose.

When even theWashington Post says that America should not "abandon the military strategy that has delivered that progress" in Iraq, it should be obvious that the Democrats will not be able to run against the war this year.

Indeed, Greg Fischer's position on the war -- he wants to withdraw from Iraq “as safely and as soon as possible” -- parrots Mitch McConnell's views.

As a result of the success of the troop surge, those anti-war groups like Moveon.org are flailing about, looking for new issues and strategy and trying to remain relevant.

Moveon.org and roughly 20 other copy-cat groups met for a summit on K Street -- the same street where Democrats always accuse Republicans of selling out to lobbyists. Two things to note about their big pow wow. First, it shows the amount of coordination between Moveon.org and the other anti-war groups. Second, they are in disarray because the war has turned around.

“There was a consensus that last year was not productive,” John Isaacs, executive director of Council for a Livable World, said of a meeting attended by a coalition of anti-war groups last week. “Our expectations were dashed.”

Guess which group attended the summit?

The meeting, held at an office on K Street, was attended by around 20 representatives of influential anti-war groups, including MoveOn.org and Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, which spent $12 million last year opposing the war.

As set forth below, Americans Against Escalation in Iraq is the group for which Andrew Horne's spokesman, Aniello Alioto, headed Iraq Summer.