Where are they now?

Q: “…General Petraeus is going to come to the Hill and make it clear to you that there is progress going on in Iraq, that the so-called surge is working. Will you believe him when he says that?” REID: “No, I don't believe him, because it's not happening. All you have to do is look at the facts.” (Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) on CNN’s “The Situation Room,” 04/23/07)

“By carefully manipulating the statistics, the Bush-Petraeus report will try to persuade us that violence in Iraq is decreasing and thus the surge is working. Even if the figures were right, the conclusion is wrong.” (Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) during remarks to the Center For National Policy, Washington, D.C., 09/07/07)

“I think that the reports that you provided to us really require the willing suspension of disbelief.” (Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) during hearings of the Armed Services Committee, U.S. Senate, 09/11/07)

“I don't consider the surge a nuanced policy. It's killing our soldiers at a great rate. … I think that we need to look at reality. Senator Biden talked to you about what the comptroller general said, and you're going to argue about it? I think the comptroller general ought to be listened to. He says you're cherry picking your numbers in terms of the overall violence. … I ask you to take off your rosy glasses. You had them on in '05.” (Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) during the hearing of the Foreign Relations Committee, U.S. Senate, Hearing, 9/11/07)

“This is ridiculous. There is no plan. I ask the President and everyone else who comes forward with a plan, whether it is capping or surging or whatever they have: Will it answer the two-word test: Then what? Then what? Then what? What happens after we surge these women and men? And by the way, he said General Petraeus is one who believes. He may be the only one who believes this is a good idea. Virtually no one else thinks it is a good idea.” (Senator Joe Biden (D-DE), Congressional Record, S.3080, 03/14/07)

“I think the general will present the facts with respect to the statistics and the tactical successes or situations as he sees them. But none of us should be fooled -- not the American people, not you in the media, not us in Congress -- we should not be fooled into this tactical success debate. That's not what this is about.” (Senator John Kerry (D-MA)on ABC’s “This Week,” 09/09/07)

So where are they now that violence in Iraq has dropped to the lowest level in four years? Why, just this week they all voted to confirm General David H. Petraeus as Commander of CENTCOM. The vote was 95-2, by the way.

No word on when apologies will be made to the General and the troops.

Quotes from Brian Faughnan of The Weeky Standard.