Democrat Baird Trashed for Speaking the Truth

From The Politico:

A month after Baird, a Democrat from Washington state, switched his views on Iraq and embraced President Bush’s surge strategy, he remains persona non grata in many circles.

[...]

At home, he is besieged by angry protesters and hostile ads.

In the Capitol, many of his colleagues are still smarting over his turnaround, charging that it gave fodder to Republicans and undermined the Democrats’ momentum to force a troop withdrawal.

For the sake of the truth, Baird remains unapologetic.

Recently, Baird was quoted as saying:

"We are making real and tangible progress on the ground, for one," Baird said, "and if we withdraw, it could have a potentially catastrophic effect on the region."

[...]

"If you have some guarantee of support, you have working space to reach out and involve the other side. If you think we are going to withdraw and chaos and civil war might ensue, then the decision is different."

The informed thinking on the ground in Iraq was best summed up by New York Times' Pulitzer Prize winning correspondent John Burns:

"[The] threats from Washington about a withdrawal, which we might have hoped would have brought about greater political cooperation in face of the threat that would ensue from that to the entire political establishment here, has had, as best we can gauge it, much more the opposite effect, of an effect that persuading people well, if the Americans are going [to leave Iraq], there’s absolutely no…and we’re going to have to settle this by a civil war, why should we make concessions on that matter right now?"