...what do you do, sir?

The Democrats gained the House of Representatives and the Senate on the strength of their opposition to the war in Iraq. Barack Obama was fortunate enough to not be in the U.S. Senate when the vote to authorize military force against Saddam Hussain was cast. It has provided him the luxury of opposing the war from the start. Who knows what he would have really done in the "line of fire" on the big stage.

Barack Obama has made withdrawing from Iraq on a fixed timeline starting on day one of his presidency a core policy of his campaign. Unfortunately, for the Democrats, the story in Iraq has changed dramatically. The talking points on which they have successfully attacked Bush and the GOP are being rapidly eroded by the facts.

The surge has succeeded beyond the most optimistic expectations. Violence has dropped dramatically. Anbar's Sunni province has been transformed. Al Qaeda is on the run. The Iraqi Army has taken the lead in successful miltary operations to clear Shiite insurgents from Basra and Sadr city. Sadr himself is refocusing his attention on political rather than military power. Oil revenues are being distributed fairly to the provinces. Oil production is increasing. Most of the legislative benchmarks have been met. Even the fact that the Iraqi's have driven a tough negotiation regarding a long-term security agreement with the U.S. is a positive sign that Iraq is comfortable asserting its national sovereignty.

Despite all of this, Senator Obama has doggedly stuck to his plan to withdraw our forces, without regard to what is happening on the ground. John Maynard Keynes, the famous British economist, was once challenged about changing his position on a particular issue. Keynes responded, "When the facts change, I change my mind - what do you do, sir?"

The success of a democratic Iraq in the most dangerous and autocratic region of the world is now within sight. It is worrisome that the man who may be president will not adapt his position to a situation when the facts change - or be so invested in defeat that he cannot admit he was wrong.