We don’t know as yet how many more troops Bush wants to send to Iraq, but we do know that Harry and Nancy don’t want him to send any. Although I believe their thinking on this matter is motivated almost entirely by politics, we have to take seriously the obvious: the situation in Iraq is grave and that doing too little may be worse than doing nothing. Bush has the habit of doing too little. If he is going to add to our commitment in the region, he had better do it with sufficient troop power to win. And that may be a greater number than is currently being bandied about. Whatever it is, it has to be enough to put a scare in Iran and Syria and let them know we intend to succeed. At this moment, they see an America in disarray and ambivalent, to say the least. Turning this around will demand leadership qualities on Bush’s part he has yet to display. He has to confront not only the Reids and Pelosis, but an opposition media and a skeptical public – a tall order indeed. The one thing he has going for him is that he has nothing to lose. He is a lame duck with atrocious poll numbers. We will see now if he will get off the mat like Rocky did this year and make a comeback. It’s going to be interesting to watch as sport – and a lot more.
UPDATE: Melanie Phillips underscores that the war in Iraq is against Iran.
MORE: Debka is reporting definite Rocky movement.
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