The Tiger at Home

I’m cautiously optimistic about the situation in Iraq right now — but this kind of crowing is, well, premature.

Let’s take a closer look at those numbers.

Yes, 42% of those polled want Congress to fund fully the troops without attaching any conditions.

However, if you add the 34% who want a requirement for a phased withdrawal attached to funding to the 18% who want an immediate slashing of funds and withdrawal, you get… a majority.

A narrow one, to be sure — 52%.  And if the surge continues to go well, and General Petraeus has moderately good things to say in September, and it looks like this thing may yet be pulled out of the fire, I could see a shifting of 5-10% of the population to supporting the war again.

But for now, a slim majority of the American public wants us out of Iraq, and supports some sort of congressional action to hasten it.

That’s the reality.  Yes, Americans do want to win — but we’re not sure whether we can.

Time — as ever — will tell.