DOES ANYONE GIVE UP EASIER?:

Developments in Mideast Soften Criticism in Congress (Tyler Marshall, March 7, 2005, LA Times)

A dramatic string of positive developments in the Middle East in recent weeks appears to have deflated, at least for now, fierce congressional criticism of the Bush administration's conduct of the war in Iraq.

One of the administration's staunchest opponents, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), even said Sunday that President Bush deserved credit for what seemed to be a tentative awakening of democracy in the region.

"What's taken place in a number of those countries is enormously constructive," Kennedy said on ABC's "This Week." "It's a reflection the president has been involved."

Six weeks ago, in a speech at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, Kennedy was far more confrontational.

"We have reached the point that a prolonged American military presence in Iraq is no longer productive for either Iraq or the United States," he said, calling for a phased U.S. withdrawal and comparing the involvement in Iraq with the quagmire the United States found itself in a generation ago in Vietnam.

But in Sunday's comments, Kennedy recalibrated his earlier rhetoric.

Just as the Senator was prepared to throw in the towel in Vietnam, the Cold War, Iraq, and the War on Terror, so too will he give up when the news cycle shifts to positive. No profile in courage he.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 7, 2005 8:18 AM