This had better not turn out to be true:

Congressional Democrats plan to send to President Bush a war-spending bill without a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, two Democratic leadership aides tell CNN.

Earlier this month, Bush vetoed a war spending bill passed by the Democratically-controlled Congress that included a timetable for withdrawal. The president has insisted that he will not sign any bill that includes such a provision.

The bill is expected to include benchmarks that the Iraqi government would have to achieve. The bill is also expected to require the president to provide numerous reports to Congress before August 2007 on the Iraqi government’s progress, the aides said.

If the Iraqi government fails to meet the benchmarks, the aides said, reconstruction funds could be cut. The bill may also allow the president to waive the penalties for failing to meet the benchmarks if he feels they are necessary. (emphasis mine)

Saying “oh, if the Iraqis don’t do X, Y, & Z we might cut funds for rebuilding, but even if we do you can ignore that for whatever reason, up to and including no reason at all” is not a compromise. It is an offer to be cornholed.

It’s obvious what’s going on here: Democratic operatives fear the old phantoms of the party being “soft” — despite their record of being no more hesitant to use force than the Republicans — rearing their ugly heads if Memorial Day passes without a funding bill Bush will sign. No, if they have any sort of redeeming quality despite being politicians they will fight this tooth & nail, parrying the slightest bit of suggestion of having it in for the troops by pointing out what they’ve been subjected to because of this entire clusterfuck. Falling for emotional tricks on such matters would be the real insult to the ones that serve, not standing up for the end of a mission that is inherently unwinnable.

Edit: Yup, they rolled over:

Democrats reluctantly gave up their demand for troops withdrawal dates in an Iraq war spending package today, conceding to President Bush on their number one goal in a debate that has roiled Congress for months.

The confrontation sparked bitter exchanges between liberals and conservatives, yielding no middle ground where party leaders and Bush could compromise. In the end, Republicans had the ticking clock of troop funding and the presidential veto pen on their side, and Democrats were forced to blink. […]

The final agreement was hammered out by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and followed extensive consultations with GOP leaders and the White House. Party leaders did secure two other priorities, a long-sought minimum wage increase and $20 billion for domestic projects, both of which Bush had initially resisted.

So they sold out based on completely unrelated spending.  Check out the party spin:

Reid called the benchmark language “extremely weak,” but noted that Bush had initially demanded a bill with no strings attached. “For heaven’s sake, look where we’ve come,” Reid said. “It’s a lot more than the president ever expected he’d have to agree to.” (emphasis mine)

Bush never expects to have to agree to anything, his philosophy begins and ends with “I win!!”.  As for Reid, his balls must be halfway to Siberia by now.