In Opening: Escalation

Today’s WaPo outlines Bush’s obvious change in policy when it comes to listening to the commanders in Iraq.

When President Bush goes before the American people tonight to outline his new strategy for Iraq, he will be doing something he has avoided since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003: ordering his top military brass to take action they initially resisted and advised against.

Bush talks frequently of his disdain for micromanaging the war effort and for second-guessing his commanders. "It's important to trust the judgment of the military when they're making military plans," he told The Washington Post in an interview last month. "I'm a strict adherer to the command structure."

But over the past two months, as the security situation in Iraq has deteriorated and U.S. public support for the war has dropped, Bush has pushed back against his top military advisers and the commanders in Iraq: He has fashioned a plan to add up to 20,000 troops to the 132,000 U.S. service members already on the ground. As Bush plans it, the military will soon be "surging" in Iraq two months after an election that many Democrats interpreted as a mandate to begin withdrawing troops.

Bush has no choice but to ignore the people who know what they are talking about, because, quite frankly, Bush is only left with three choices, and two of them just aren’t in his, like, creepy makeup to accept.

First, Bush could do absolutely nothing. He could continue on, continuing on, while we are handedly defeated in Iraq. This is obviously a horrible idea, and one that even Bush wouldn’t think about continuing.

Second, Bush could pull out of Iraq and leave the Iraq civil war up to Iraqi citizens to take care of. This is the most sensible, but an idea that Bush is unable to accept. I fully believe that Bush is unable to pick this choice, to leave Iraq, because if he does, it’s a sign that his presidency was a complete failure. Bush will, and is, putting the lives of our men and women in jeopardy simply to take a chance at saving his legacy.

The third choice, and the one that Bush is choosing, is to attempt to send more troops into Iraq, in an effort to draw this war out long enough that it won’t be his problem any longer. It’s frightening to think that this is what’s happening, but I don’t see any other reason why Bush is, contrary to every single voice in this country (the few that say send many more troops and the overwhelming amount that are saying get out), deciding to go down this path.

Without pressure from Democrats, this war will be pushed off for two more years, until a new President is in place to make the call that should be made now.

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