Second Thots

It's funny how everyone depicted the election results in November as a major blow to the Bush administration, yet here he is about to pump billions of more dollars and thousands of more troops into Iraq. There's something we're not being told. It might be that, despite the unease Americans have with the progress of the war, they still want to win this thing. It might also explain why the Democrats were desperate to tell the world that they did not support a strategy of cut-and-run. Well, Bush ain't cutting, and he' certainly not running. I guess you get what you ask for, don't you?

The report from the Iraq Study Group did the opposite of what many war critics had predicted. It brought about attention to the need for change, yet no one took seriously the prescriptions for change in Iraq that it recommended. That left a gap which it looks like Bush is more than happy to fill. He is changing his tune on Iraq, but towards an escalation in the hope of victory, rather than a withdrawal in the hope of saving face. As they say, be careful of what you wish for. The critics are getting change, but probably not the kind they were looking for.