In light of the successful U.S. troop surge in Iraq, the word withdrawal may be heading for the same trash bin that contains those other dead letters exit strategy and civil war. Democratic lawmakers, made hypocrites by their own rhetoric, now find themselves funding the war they’d declared lost, and doing so more-or-less unconditionally. Politico.com reports:

According to one senior Democratic lawmaker, there’s a growing discomfort among pro-defense Democrats about linking a $50 billion Iraq measure to troop withdrawal.

“We have to come off this lack of funding for the military operations,” the lawmaker said. “We have to continue the funding. We don’t want to look like we’re against troop funding. … We should separate the funding discussion from the rest of the war.”

Okay, what about “the rest of the war”? What current details of battle would they like to change?

It seems they’ll have to get back to us on that one. Last month, a funding bill contingent on troop withdrawal received 53 votes; that’s seven votes short of breaking a filibuster. So, they’re now looking for something that says, “We won’t stand for this war. Now, go out there and win!”

“I am advocating as strong a statement as we can get 60 votes for,” said Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.).

How about, “Keep up the extraordinary job”?