Democrats love to complain about the Iraq War because it’s good politics. They were not willing to use their Congressional powers to force withdrawal when it was going badly. They have another chance now that it’s going better, but the best they’ve proposed is to nibble around the edges with an extremely modest Dec. 2008 start-of-withdrawal date — a date that everyone believes is going to be met anyway.

There’s no reason to think they’ll grow a spine and take Defense Secretary Robert Gates to the mat. Rather than accept the Democrats’ withdrawal demand in exchange for war funding, Gates has threatened to freeze non-essential contracts and lay off thousands of Department of Defense civilian employees to keep funds going to the troops in the field. The first layoff notices would go out in two weeks.

If he’s smart about his negotiating position, Gates might even start cannibalizing their defense industry pork — that’s a language that Congress understands.