WaPo Weighs In

In an editorial discussing President Bush's new plan for Iraq, the Washington Post, while recognizing that things have to change in Iraq, isn't all that supportive of the changes.

The president could have adopted a course that would have attracted broad support domestically and from Iraqis. That was the strategy — outlined with small variations by U.S. military commanders, the Iraqi government and the Iraq Study Group — that called for an acceleration of training of the Iraqi army and a gradual handing over of responsibility for fighting insurgents. The U.S. military presence would have decreased in the coming year, but enough troops would have remained to prevent the government's collapse, strike al-Qaeda and prevent intervention by Iraq's neighbors.

This little bit of wishful thinking is the problem, I think. The ISG called for more training, but training is already going on. From what I have heard, it has been about at the maximum that the Iraqi government has been able to support. There have to be troops and police to train in the first place, don't there? Part of the problem right now is the public's perception that all of Iraq is a problem. In fact, most of the violence is centered within Baghdad and its environs.

We have to do something differently and we cannot allow ourselves to fail. We can't revert to the old, failed "realities" of the James Baker era. The WaPo should know better.

Other Links to this Post

1. Blue Crab Boulevard » The Opposite Tack — Thursday, 11 January , 2007 @ 8:02 am