do the right thing

 Sylvestre Reyes, named by Nancy “if we leave Iraq, al Qaeda will leave Iraq” Pelosi to be chairman of the House Intelligence Committe, wants to increase troop levels in Iraq in order to eliminate the militias. Newsweek reports:

Reyes pointedly distanced himself from many of his Democratic colleagues who have called for fixed timetables for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. Coming on the eve of tomorrow’s recommendations from the bipartisan Baker-Hamilton commission, Reyes’s comments were immediately cited by some Iraq war analysts as fresh evidence that the intense debate over U.S. policy may be more fluid than many have expected.

“We’re not going to have stability in Iraq until we eliminate those militias, those private armies,” Reyes said. “We have to consider the need for additional troops to be in Iraq, to take out the militias and stabilize Iraq … We certainly can’t leave Iraq and run the risk that it becomes [like] Afghanistan” was before the 2001 invasion by the United States.

Even the reporter was stunned to find a Democrat—and a newly powerful one at that, someone who was completely underestimated—who wants to win in Iraq:

When a reporter suggested that was not a position that was likely to be popular with many House Democrats, Reyes replied: “Well again, I differ in that I don’t want Iraq to become the next Afghanistan. We could not allow Iraq to become a safe haven for Al Qaeda, for Hamas, for Hizbullah, or anybody else. We cannot allow Iran or Syria to have a free hand in there to further destabilize the Middle East.”

Reyes added that he was “very clear” about his position to Pelosi when she chose him over two rivals

Food fight!

(via Memeorandum)