EDITORIAL - Majority Leader and Nevada Democrat Harry Reid declared that the United States has officially lost the war in Iraq amid debate over a House bill that calls for the removal of troops from Iraq by 2009.

"...this war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything as indicated by the extreme violence in Iraq yesterday," Reid said on Thursday. With friends like Reid, who needs enemies?

Senator Reid's insipid announcement clearly calls into question the insane lack of judgment exercised by many in Washington D.C. It indicates in no uncertain terms that some politicians value an evening news bite over the well-being of our troops in harm's way.

This is not about whether Reid was right or wrong. It is okay to believe that the war is lost. As citizens of this great land, we are entitled to form our own opinions and come to our own conclusions about national and worldly events of our time.

Rather, this is about the irresponsibility of Reid's words. Our troops are in Iraq fighting home-grown terrorists. They are using their abilities as trained and conditioned U.S. military personnel in an effort to secure whatever peace is left in Iraq. They are following the orders of the chain of command to the best of their ability.

Carelessly, a politician within that chain of command believes the war has been lost and clumsily took it upon himself to voice that thought. According to Reid, our troops must not have succeeded in their mission. The thousands of American military casualties suffered in the sands of Iraq were, apparently, devoted towards a lost cause.

Declaring that the war in Iraq has been lost with troops still in harm's way is insulting, arrogant and downright reprehensible. His suggestion that our troops are fighting and dying for a lost cause is shameful and deplorable. Our troops, now more than ever, need our support. They do not need to return to base this evening and hear about one of their own politicians hyping failure in Iraq.

Republicans are using this opportunity to push the suggestion that Democrats do not care about the troops. "I can't begin to imagine how our troops in the field, who are risking their lives every day, are going to react,” said Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky.

One Democrat, Rep. David Obey from Wisconsin, is backing away from Reid's comments and trying to save face for the Democrats. “Our troops won the war clearly, cleanly and quickly”, he said. He added that the troops are stuck in a civil war and the only solution is to strike a compromise.

If Reid and other Democrats feel the war is lost, the solution is to cut off funding for the war, not to pass a $120+ billion supplemental bill loaded with unrelated pork and expect the President to sign it, and certainly not declaring that our troops are fighting and dying in a war for a losing cause.

The White House Press Secretary dared Reid to stop funding the war. "If this is his true feeling, then it makes one wonder if he has the courage of his convictions and therefore will decide to de-fund the war," Dana Perino said in a news conference.

The recent supplemental bill seems to suggest that the Democrat's political barometer predicts that a policy to de-fund the war is not politically advantageous at this time.