Make no mistake about it. The Democrats are not in control of the Congress, Sen Joe Lieberman is. He is passionate about the war on terror, as he demonstrated in continuing on and winning his bid to retain his Senate seat. And if he thinks the Democrats would attempt to cripple the war effort and/or expose Israel to dire risk he would switch alliances in a heart beat and give control of the Senate back to the Reps. Make no mistake. And, as Mac Ranger points out, he has made his position clear in an Op Ed in the Washington Post:

I’ve just spent 10 days traveling in the Middle East and speaking to leaders there, all of which has made one thing clearer to me than ever: While we are naturally focused on Iraq, a larger war is emerging. On one side are extremists and terrorists led and sponsored by Iran, on the other moderates and democrats supported by the United States. Iraq is the most deadly battlefield on which that conflict is being fought. How we end the struggle there will affect not only the region but the worldwide war against the extremists who attacked us on Sept. 11, 2001.

Because of the bravery of many Iraqi and coalition military personnel and the recent coming together of moderate political forces in Baghdad, the war is winnable. We and our Iraqi allies must do what is necessary to win it.

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This bloodshed, moreover, is not the inevitable product of ancient hatreds. It is the predictable consequence of a failure to ensure basic security and, equally important, of a conscious strategy by al-Qaeda and Iran, which have systematically aimed to undermine Iraq’s fragile political center. By ruthlessly attacking the Shiites in particular over the past three years, al-Qaeda has sought to provoke precisely the dynamic of reciprocal violence that threatens to consume the country.

On this point, let there be no doubt: If Iraq descends into full-scale civil war, it will be a tremendous battlefield victory for al-Qaeda and Iran. Iraq is the central front in the global and regional war against Islamic extremism.

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One colonel followed me out of the meeting with our military leaders in Ramadi and said with great emotion, “Sir, I regret that I did not have the chance to speak in the meeting, but I want you to know on behalf of the soldiers in my unit and myself that we believe in why we are fighting here and we want to finish this fight. We know we can win it.”

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As the hostile regimes in Iran and Syria appreciate — at times, it seems, more keenly than we do — failure in Iraq would be a strategic and moral catastrophe for the United States and its allies. Radical Islamist terrorist groups, both Sunni and Shiite, would reap victories simultaneously symbolic and tangible, as Iraq became a safe haven in which to train and strengthen their foot soldiers and Iran’s terrorist agents. Hezbollah and Hamas would be greatly strengthened against their moderate opponents. One moderate Palestinian leader told me that a premature U.S. exit from Iraq would be a victory for Iran and the groups it is supporting in the region. Meanwhile, the tens of thousands of Iraqis who have bravely stood with us in the hope of a democratic future would face the killing fields.

Lieberman just laid down the gauntlet and the Senate Dems better not even pretend to challenge him. There is no option in Iraq except success. Those who authorized this war cannot back out now. They voted and all the claims of ignorance in the world are not going to save them from the fact we are in this and must win. Crying about how hard it is not an answer to anythying – though it does give comfort to our enemies. That much is for sure. I find it embarrassing any adult would complain about how it has taken over 3 years to complete our task in Iraq when it takes more than three years to design a satellite for space, or to get a child through high school, or a million other efforts that pale in comparison to rebuilding a ravaged nation while our enemies do all they can to stop us. The whiners are just demonstrating their limitations – not ours. It is time for the left to stop wailing about how unfair and hard life is and either chip in or simply be quiet. a silent lack of help is much better than a whining lack of help any day of the week.