In April, 2007, at the height of American casualties during the Surge in Iraq, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D. Nev.) famously announced "the war is lost." His remark attracted national headlines - and a big push-back from Republicans, who, in the wake of the 2006 elections, controlled neither House of Congress.

An American President - George W. Bush of Texas - had refused to accept defeat. He changed his military leaders, launched the Surge and victory followed. And, even though, the Republicans had lost control of Congress, President Bush's control of the Executive branch and the American people's refusal to accept defeat prevailed over leading Democrats' desire for American defeat.. It enabled the forces of the Sunni Awakening, General Petraeus and the coalition's troops to crush the Iraq insurgency.

Over a thousand American soldiers died  in Iraq after Leader Reid's remarkable press conference.

Democrats, like Reid, who'd predicted defeat, never changed their views.  Now, President Barack Obama has just guaranteed that Senator Reid's remark will come true. Iraq is not Vietnam and the Middle East is not Southeast Asia. Yet, the parallels - 36 years after a Democratic Congress cut off U.S. funding for South Vietnam - are unsettling.

Once again, a leader of the Democratic Party has opted for American defeat - after a splendid American field army has achieved military victory. Former New York Times Baghdad bureau chief John Burns predicted  disaster as a result of Mr. Obama's decision on Hugh Hewitt on October 24.  "We'll see" was the most optimism Pulitzer-Prize winner Dexter Filkins could muster  on his New Yorker blog.

These guys aren't conservatives. But, with Michael Yon, these famous war correspondents are not hopeful about whether America's sacrifice in Iraq will be redeemed..

How can Democrats ever be trusted with America's national security again?

It's a simple as that.

Read Fred and Kimberly Kagan's excellent piece this weekend in the new issue of the  Weekly Standard  for the post-mortem. The Kagans were part of the intellectual brain trust behind the Surge - the Surge which President Obama has just thrown away.