Polls show that President Bush's speech on Iraq did little to bolster his slipping support. Describing the war in Iraq as the latest battle in the war on terrorism rather than a diversion is less convincing than ever. And whatever one's view about our entry into the war, we are all stuck with the disastrous results of the ideological blindness and sheer incompetence of Donald Rumsfeld and his colleagues who rejected General Eric Shinskeki's warnings that winning the peace would take several hundred thousand troops. Since the administration did too little to involve other countries on the take-off, too few are there to help us on the landing.
Where do we go from here? On one thing, Bush is correct. Simply announcing a timetable for prompt departure now will encourage the insurgents. But at the same time, he needs to do more to establish a framework that assures Iraqis that we will not be a long term imperial occupier. He must also accelerate the training of Iraqi forces, including outside the country. Senator Biden, who recently returned from a visit to Iraq, says that currently only three battalions are fully capable of acting alone. And keeping the constitutional talks and the next elections on track will be essential for legitimacy. If these steps fail to succeed during coming year, then we will have to consider a deeper reassessment. Pep talks about "staying the course" will no longer suffice.
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