Joe Liberman's Neverending Quest To Hit Rock Bottom

"We need to cut through the confusion. Bringing security to Baghdad--the essential precondition for political compromise, national reconciliation and economic development--is possible only with a surge of at least 30,000 combat troops lasting 18 months or so. Any other option is likely to fail."

--Frederick Kagan and Jack Keane, The Washington Post, 12/27/06

"Thanks to General Keane and Fred Kagan for the extraordinary contribution that you have made to the debate, both in terms of overall policy, but the combination of real on-the-ground, boots on-the-ground operational experience that, General Keane, you bring; and the sense of history and policy, Fred, that you bring--you are a powerful combination. And at a perilous moment for our nation, you are making a very significant and unique contribution.

--Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman on Kagan's and Keane's presentation of their plan at The American Enterprise Institute, 01/05/07

"President Bush tonight announced a new approach that called for sending some 21,000 more U.S. troops to Iraq but also warned its government that 'America's commitment is not open-ended.'"

--The Los Angeles Times's summary of Bush's speech, 01/10/07

"I applaud the President for rejecting the fatalism of failure and pursuing a new course to achieve success in Iraq. ... Success is attainable in Iraq, and tonight the President has offered a comprehensive program to chart a new course in both winning the military struggle to establish order and in achieving the political and economic objectives to build a more promising future for Iraqis. However, no progress is possible unless we restore order, particularly in Baghdad. Tonight, the President did not take the easy path, but he took the correct and courageous course."

--Lieberman, in a statement released after the president's address, 01/10/07