Lugar on Iraq

As I already have one post about a Senator from my home state, I might as well give equal time to the other.

[T]he terms of our inquiry today are much different than they were last September. At that time, the President was appealing to Congress to allow the surge to continue to create breathing space for a political accommodation. Today the questions are whether and how improvements in security can be converted into political gains that can stabilize Iraq despite the impending drawdown of U.S. troops. Simply appealing for more time to make progress is insufficient. The debate over how much progress we have made and whether we can make more is less illuminating than determining whether the Administration has a definable political strategy that recognizes the time limitations we face and seeks a realistic outcome designed to protect American vital interests.

Call me a homer, but Dick Lugar is the kind of man and politician U.S. Senators should aspire to be.