It is truly astonishing how little adjustment leading Democrats have made in their rhetoric or policy prescriptions in light of the changing circumstances in Iraq. In this interview with the New York Times’s ace military correspondent, Michael Gordon, John Edwards pledges to remove virtually all U.S. troops, including trainers, from Iraq within ten months of assuming the presidency—exactly the kind of step that could undo all the progress that has been made in 2007.

Of course it’s unlikely that Edwards will ever occupy the White House. But he is one of the top three Democratic presidential candidates, so what he says is worth considering. And what he is saying is essentially what Democrats have been saying for the last couple of years. To wit: “I have never believed that there was a military solution in Iraq, don’t believe it today. I think the issue is how do you maximize the chances of achieving a political reconciliation between Sunni and Shia because I think that political reconciliation is the foundation for any long-term stability in Iraq.” (For more of Edwards’s pensées, see here.)

This is exactly the argument Democrats were making against the surge. Now the surge is succeeding, but they haven’t yet figured out a new argument, so they keep replaying the same old DVD.

By the way, if you want further evidence of how the surge is working, check out the latest casualty figures, which show that 23 American soldiers died in December, the second-smallest figure on record since the invasion began. (The runner-up was the month of February 2004 when 20 died.) Of course that news may be a little hard to find since it’s buried in news articles like this one, headlined “2007 Deadliest Year for U.S. Troops in Iraq.” The headline is accurate but misleading, since casualties have been falling precipitously over the past six months—ever since the surge started to take effect.

Why does it seem like not only some politicians but also some journalists are in a time-warp where signs of progress simply don’t register?