My favorite liberal editorial page

The Washington Post editorial page remains a voice of reason, even as the paper’s news and op-ed pages move steadily leftward. Today’s lead editorial examines the Ramadan offensive. The Post recognizes that, like the Tet offensive in Vietnam (which, it qucikly adds, was orders of magnitude more bloody), this week’s bombings in Iraq are designed to cause the U.S. to embrace an early exit strategy. But, counsels the Post, such a strategy would be a serious mistake. “There is no basis to believe that the U.S. goals of stabilizing Iraq under a representative government cannot be achieved. In much of the country there is little violence and coalition authorities have the support of most of the population. Even in Baghdad, there has been measurable progress in recent months: More power is on, the curfew is lifted, streets and shops are usually full.”
The Post wouldn’t be the Post if it didn’t take a few shots at President Bush. But instead of the usual mindless liberal carping, the Post actually offers constructive concrete suggestions, most notably employing more troops, or at least using more troops for counterinsurgency operations. But the Post’s real quarrel is with members of Congress “for opposing funds for reconstruction” and “demanding a timetable for withdrawal,” when they should be pressing Bush on how to wage a more effective campaign of counterinsurgency and reconstruction.

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