Yesterday, AJ provided his usually sharp, insightful analysis of the policy behind the Iraq Study Group report. What fascinated me was the political theater that unfolded this week. For awhile now, we've been saying Bush needs an intervention. This week, we watched some of the most influential forces in America attempt that intervention.
Everybody had a role. James Baker, The Iraq Study Group, the media, the Democrats, even Robert Gates. When was the last time the major networks covered a non-presidential press conference live? I can't think of one.
We watched a collective effort to get George Bush back to reality. It remains to be seen if it will work.
Today's The NY Times editorial, "Welcome Political Cover" explains:
Iraq is so far gone that nobody expected the panel to come up with a breakthrough solution. As the co-chairmen — former Secretary of State James Baker and former Representative Lee Hamilton — began their letter accompanying yesterday’s report, “there is no magic formula to solve the problems of Iraq.” And the study was never going to change the basic facts: there is no victory to be had in Iraq, and however American troops withdraw, they will leave behind a deadly mess.The problem America has right now is the President's capacity. He's impervious to the disaster that he's created. And, it's getting worse by the day.
Its real mission was to avert the worst scenario, in which a stubborn George W. Bush spends the next two years blindly insisting he will accept nothing short of victory, while Iraq keeps spiraling out of control and the Iraqis get no closer to being able to contain the chaos after the Americans leave.
That is a recipe for years more of savagery, a spillover of terrorism and instability across the Middle East, more sacrifice of American soldiers and more cynicism and division among the American people. Avoiding it is not the same as winning the war, but it is a way to cut one’s losses.
If Mr. Bush has the capacity to seriously reassess his Iraq strategy, he will need exactly the kind of political cover that the Baker-Hamilton group was meant to provide.
Yesterday, eleven U.S. troops were killed in Iraq. The insurgents have become more effective. NBC's Jane Arraf reported that U.S. soldiers, especially officers, have been attacked by a new "particularly lethal" roadside bomb. According to Arraf, this new device forms projectiles that can pierce tanks.
Even against this backdrop, there is not much hope Bush can rise to the task. CBS News reported last night:
But this president may not be in much of a hurry to accept Baker's ideas about that — or much else. Asked if Baker would help implement the report, a spokesman for Mr. Bush said, "Jim Baker can go back to his day job."The problem is that Bush still has his day job for the next two years.
