President Bush may be on the verge of sending more troops to Iraq, representing what may be one of the most controversial moves of his tenure in office at a time when his approval rating remains mired in the mid thirties.
Although prospective presidential front runner John McCain and the incoming Democratic Intelligence Chair both recommend an infusion of troops, the reality of what must be done to win in Iraq will not sit well with many talking heads and weary Americans. Eli Lake of the NY Sun has even suggested that Bush's move could be a "parting shot" at his old rival McCain, whose presidential chances may wither if the troop reinforcement strategy fails. Respectfully, I do not think that Bush has proven himself to exercise such an extreme level of pettiness. Like Lincoln in late 1862, coming off electoral defeats and military thrashings, President Bush may have finally realized the necessity of hard war and be ready to engage the enemy aggressively in Iraq. Time is the only measure that counts in this respect.
Certainly, as Charles Krauthammer has observed, the complete failure of the Iraq Study Group Report to inspire anything but depression among those alert to this issue has given the president a unique opportunity to right the ship in the 11th hour of his power to do so. Insert cynicism here, but any honestly-American witness to our contemporary struggles in the Middle East owes his or her country some optimism and an earnest hope for the best out of Bush in the next couple weeks.
No comments:
Post a Comment