Deadlines

Politico quoted an insider:

"When they put out that deadline, people realized that we were going to lose," said an aide to an anti-war lawmaker. "Everything after that seemed like posturing."

James Taranto, of the OpinionJournal's Best of the Web column comments:

This gives away the game, doesn't it? The "antiwar" people understand what it means to set a deadline — and they seek to do so because they want America to lose.

Taranto is right. These people are not stupid; they know what they're doing and what the probable effects of their actions are.

This strongly suggests that "They're not anti-war. They're just on the other side." The alternative is that they care only about their own political fortunes, and don't care about the effects of their actions for the country.