As good as it gets

So how is that surge going? Six US soldiers were killed this weekend and it appears that Muqtada Sadr and his followers may enter the battle once again after laying low for awhile. As paradox at The Left Coaster said this morning Bush Has Nothing. The appropriation bills approved by the House and the Senate are as good as it's going to get.

Bush is never going to get a war bill without termination language, Pelosi and Reid plain don’t have the ability to do it. If worst case actually plays out and Congress is simply unable to produce any war bill at all, who will the public blame for the debacle of unruly loss and confused retreat from tactical theatre? Congress or the lying moron who got us into this horrifying mess and who at one time had a bill to sign?

And it's only going to get worse. This from Think Progress.

This morning on the Chris Matthews Show, NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell revealed that Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, met “very recently” with the Senate Republican caucus to discuss their strategy on Iraq legislation.

“Petraeus went to the Republican caucus and told them, I will have real progress to you by August,” Mitchell said. The Republicans claim they told him that after August, they will end their support for the war. “They have told him at a caucus meeting as very, very recently, that if there isn’t progress by August — and real progress means not a day of violence and a day of sanity — that they will pull the plug.”

Stunningly, Mitchell said that “moderate Republican” senators had told her that they didn’t believe the escalation would work but voted for it anyway. “They really are not in favor of the surge. They don’t believe it’s going to work. But they basically said the president has until August, until Labor Day. After that, if it doesn’t work, they’re running.”

Yes the Republicans read the polls and know that 2008 is drawing near - read 20 Republican Senators up for reelection. I would anticipate some Republicans bailing even before September, the number depends on how badly the war goes.