Anti-War Left Starting to Wake Up Again

The anti-war left has been in a period of mourning since George W. Bush left office. The wars they opposed were still going on, but they didn't dare criticize The One for not ending them right away. Since he had been anointed to save us all, who were they to interfere with his agenda?

Well, they're starting to wake up to the fact that Obama is not ending the wars as he promised (and Obama is waking up to the fact that it's easier to end wars in campaign rhetoric than in real life) and after so many months of disappointment, they're beginning to be nuisances again:

White House officials are increasingly worried liberal, anti-war Democrats will demand a premature end to the Afghanistan war before President Barack Obama can show signs of progress in the eight-year conflict, according to senior administration sources.

These fears, which the officials have discussed on the condition of anonymity over the past few weeks, are rising fast after U.S. casualties hit record levels in July and August.

The aides also expressed concern that Afghan election returns, still being tallied, will result in a narrow reelection for President Hamid Karzai that could result in qualms about his legitimacy — “Tehran II,” as one official put it, in reference to the disputed Iranian election.

The result: some think Afghanistan — not health care — will be the issue that defines the early years of the Obama administration.

“There’s no question that the drumbeat is going to get louder and louder on the left, and you’ll see some fall-off on the right,” said Matt Bennett of the think tank Third Way, the moderate voice of the progressive movement. “His supporters on the Hill are fighting a really serious political battle to keep the criticism under control.”

It's not that they haven't tried to get the media's attention to their anti-war activities. Cindy Sheehan's Traveling Ditch People Circus set up camp in Marxist Martha's Vineyard only to be told that the media was no longer interested in her sad story. Funny how her "absolute moral authority" was so quickly lost with a Democrat in the White House.

With bad news coming out of Afghanistan every day there will be more and more pressure on Obama to cut-and-run and the anti-war left will feel evermore empowered.

I'm wondering when Harry Reid will declare the war lost, like he did in 2007 regarding Iraq... right before we won it. Maybe that's what Obama needs to succeed in Afghanistan - a declaration by Harry Reid.