This article raises some of the concerns I have with Bush and his attempt to convince the public that he is going to change tactics in Iraq.   For those of us who have never trusted the little cowboy it is hardly reassuring that he is making noise about listening to the public's mandate in the Elections 2006 or in the polls following.

He is only trying to buy time and hope Jesus comes floating down on a cloud and saves his ass and all the Iraqi people at one time.   Barring that miracle, he will just continue to Whack-A-Mole the Insurgency and manage to keep a steady stream of coffins flowing in the dark of night...   - fc

Neocons Want a Mulligan on Iraq

It's disheartening in the extreme, almost to the point of being maddening, that President Bush continues to look to the folks who brought you the war in the first place for the way forward.

This surge of roughly 25,000 additional troops, at this stage in the conflict, is unlikely to even suppress the violence significantly in Baghdad.

This all leaves on the table the problem of whether or not a lot of the troublemakers in Baghdad wouldn't head for the hinterland when they saw such a force coming. Senator John McCain, for all his faults, has this right when he worries about playing "Whack-a-Mole" across Iraq.

In short, Kagan's plan appears in any light to be a recipe for compounding the disaster of the neocons' policies in Iraq thus far. But despite the history of the last four years, neoconservatives still have a tremendous amount of sway with the White House. Sharing the same a priori commitment to an illusory "victory" in Iraq seems to be a precondition of getting the president's ear. It would be good if someone, at some point, would attempt to disabuse him of this idea, and confront him with the cold facts on the ground. It's been almost four years.

The upshot, it seems, is that the neocons are going to get a "do over" in Iraq. And, unfortunately, it looks like the U.S. military is going to pay the price for their Mulligan.

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