Swampland - TIME.com

Glass half full?

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, whose advocacy of limiting the U.S. mission has represented the center of the Senate's thinking on Iraq, says the surge is showing "positive results." Levin and ranking Republican John Warner say they are most impressed--and surprised--to hear U.S. commanders praise the progress that Iraqi forces are making in handling their own security needs.

That may be exactly the kind of reinforcement the Bush Administration is looking for in advance of the Petraeus report. But Levin also indicates the political side of the equation has been a flop.

Is this an endorsement of continuing the surge, or is Levin laying the groundwork for the argument that the time is ripe to begin a U.S. pullback? Joe, you and I are holding down the Swamp this week. What do you think?

Whatever the answer, it helps explain why Democrats are increasingly nervous as they face the September report.


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About Swampland

Joe Klein

Joe Klein is TIME's political columnist and author of six books, most recently Politics Lost. His weekly TIME column, "In the Arena," covers national and international affairs. In 2004 he won the National Headliner Award for best magazine column. Read more

Karen Tumulty

Senior Writer Karen Tumulty has been TIME's National Political Correspondent since 2001, and has also covered the White House and Congress for the magazine. A native of San Antonio, she is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and Harvard Business School, where her career choice has significantly lowered the average salary of her graduating class. But she gets lots of free magazines. Read more

Jay Newton-Small

Jay Newton-Small Jay Newton-Small covers politics for TIME. She has covered the Bush 43 White House and also Congress from the DeLay era to the present. And, yes, despite the misleading name SHE is a she. Read more

Michael Scherer

Michael Scherer is a correspondent in TIME's Washington bureau covering the 2008 presidential campaign. He has worked national assignments for Mother Jones magazine and Salon.com. Read more

Amy Sullivan

Amy Sullivan is a senior editor at TIME magazine, and author of the book The Party Faithful: How and Why Democrats are Closing the God Gap (Scribner, 2008). A Michigan native, she holds degrees from the University of Michigan and Harvard Divinity School. She writes about religion and politics for TIME, but no longer answers to the name "Bible Girl." Read more

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