I've been playing with this blogger beta all day, adding fun things and tweaking the site.
There's a chance that I messed something up, badly, so if anyone notices anything wrong, please let me know. I'm only running IE, Netscape, and Firefox so it may all look horrible on other browsers. It sure wouldn't be the first time.
(UPDATED BELOW)
I feel like all this behind-closed-doors “Iraq policy crafting“ is nothing more than political games.
CRAWFORD, Texas - Already weeks in the making, President Bush's new war plan is being burnished with the assistance of top military and diplomatic advisers as critics of the war urge the Democratic Congress to resist any call for a large military buildup in Iraq.
It's unclear whether Bush will signal his desires or just seek further consultation when he meets at his Texas ranch on Thursday with Vice President Dick Cheney and other members of the National Security Council.
Downplaying expectations, the White House says it's a "non-decisional" gathering. Yet advisers have set the stage for a presidential speech after the first of the year in which Bush will lay out a new U.S. strategy in Iraq where violence could be sparked by the execution of Saddam Hussein.
Sending more troops only increases the Iraqis' dependence on U.S. forces and allows them to delay making the painful political compromises needed to end the violence, said Larry Korb, a former assistant secretary of defense. He said part of Gates' mission in Iraq was to get military leaders to support an increase in troops.
"You can put a Marine or soldier on every street corner in Baghdad, but unless the reconciliation process begins, it's not going to make any difference," Korb said.
