NO, THIS TIME THERE REALLY IS A WOLF...:

Exit Plan Or Victory Strategy? (William Kristol and Robert Kagan, Nov. 10, 2003, Weekly Standard)

On the Sunday talk shows at the beginning of last week, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld didn't exactly say that we were going to run, but he certainly sounded as if he were eyeing the exits. He emphasized that "you've got to get the security responsibility
transferred to the Iraqi people. … It's their country. … We're not going to provide security in their country over a sustained period of time." And then on the same day as the president's speech, the Defense Department announced plans to reduce U.S. forces by about 20 percent in the next few months. The secretary of defense claimed that the rapid growth of Iraqi security forces made this drawdown possible -- even though that growth has come at the cost of levels of training previously thought necessary to enable them to do their job.

In other words: The president wants to win, and the Pentagon wants to get out. It's of course possible we can do both at once. And it's also true that on the political side, there's a strong case for a faster transfer of power to the Iraqis. But the fact remains that over the short term we have a
policy in contradiction with itself. Is it to be a victory strategy or an exit strategy? The president has, since 9/11, prevailed (on key matters) over the status quo foreign policy favored by his State Department. Will he now prevail over his Defense Department as well? After all, speeches are good; troops are better.

We've a theory around here--tested in the crucibles of Afghanistan and the run-up to the Iraq War--when Kristol and Kagan start mewling about how badly the administration is doing we're on the verge of total victory. No two men have been more wrong about the will and the methods of the Bush team, nor about the situation on the ground since 9-11. Here's just one of the many hilarious examples, Going Wobbly? : Is the president backing away from regime change in Iraq? (William Kristol & Robert Kagan, 05/24/2002, Weekly Standard)

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 15, 2003 7:46 AM