Among my Very Serious foreign policy friends (that is, the attorneys and think tank fellows and pundits just waiting for a Democratic administration so they can move en masse into the various executive branch jobs), there seemed to be an increasing general view over the past few weeks that President Bush and the military would have until this summer to put up or shut up on Iraq. That within several months (say, oh, a Friedman Unit), either the "surge" would be working or Bush would have to leave.
Except nobody could ever quite explain exactly how "have to leave" would work. A president who feels no sense of responsibility to popular opinion, other elected officials, or, well, reality, is not likely to believe anything is a "last chance." It's easy to keep asking for "one more try!" when all you have to do is run out the clock.
Now we find out that the administration is already laying the groundwork to extend the timeframe. Kevin Drum elaborates, helpfully translating the NYT article that reported the "surge" is now scheduled to last "well into next year":
Maliki has no authority whatsoever; the Iraqi troops we've been training for the past three years are still useless; there's no political progress in sight; and in the meantime we're stalling for dear life, hoping against hope that something good magically happens. In Republican leadership circles, this is called a "foreign policy." The rest of us have a different name for it.
Everybody clap harder, clapping will solve everything! Clap, dammit!
