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The call for withdrawl was arguably the first time that Iraqis "got it" -- oh the Americans want to leave? They don't just want to stay here and keep our country? This message changed the debate for them. It was probably a necessary component of the whole thing. And all the Ds were doing was expressing the will of the public.
Furthermore, this is a nice narrative but when you look at what happened, it doesn't match up; until Petraeus the rules of engagement were part of the problem, and lack of troops was part of the problem, so saying "being allowed to win" is a double-edged sword. Do we get to win? The strategy had to change 180 degrees mid-stream, so who was making the calls when we weren't winning?
Do you remember who was against winning in Bosnia?
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