Bush’s Search for New Iraq Options

What happened

President Bush this week held a series of strategy sessions in hopes of crafting a new policy that could arrest Iraq's slide into chaos. In a clear rebuke to the Iraq Study Group, Bush sought advice from military commanders, academic experts, key administration officials, and Iraqi leaders. Administration officials said there was considerable internal disagreement on how to proceed, with sharp differences of opinion between Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Among the options presented to the president were a temporary 'œsurge' in U.S. troop strength to restore order in Baghdad; siding with Iraq's Shiite majority against the Sunnis (an option Cheney favors); and assembling a coalition of moderate Sunnis and Shiites to promote a national reconciliation (favored by Rice).

Having privately accepted that his Iraq policy has failed, Bush was also considering shaking up his national security team, sources told The Washington Post. 'œI don't think there is any doubt in his mind about how bad it is,' the source said. With so many options to consider, Bush decided to delay a major speech on the war until early January. He originally planned to deliver the speech before Christmas. 'œIt's a complex business,' said presidential spokesman Tony Snow.

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What the editorials said

Iraq has been falling apart for two years and in a full-blown civil war for several months. Yet only now does Bush decide to conduct a policy review? said The New York Times. The wait might be more palatable if we thought that 'œBush's advisors have come up with a sensible change in course.' But it's more likely 'œthat the president's ever-divided policy advisors are still wrangling over the most basic decisions.' Meanwhile, 'œthe nation is in crisis,' and Iraqis and U.S. troops are dying every day.

A little patience, please, said National Review. This is Bush's 'œlast chance to create progress on the ground in Iraq before domestic political support for the war crumbles entirely,' so naturally he wants to get it right. We hope he chooses to secure Baghdad by sending in more troops. That would put a great strain on the military, 'œbut if there is any cause that calls for straining the military, it is an attempt to keep from losing the war.'

What the columnists said

President Bush is a lonely man these days, said Tony Blankley in The Washington Times. 'œIf Washington gossip is right, even many of the president's own advisors' have thrown in the towel. In 1861, Abraham Lincoln was in similar straits. His military advisors were telling him to surrender Fort Sumter to the Confederacy. Instead, 'œalone, and against all advice, he made the right decision' to defend the fort and set the Union on the path to victory in the Civil War. Remember Lincoln, Mr. President. Ignore the defeatists, and chart a course to victory.

There will be no victory, said H.D.S. Greenway in The Boston Globe. Iraq has dissolved into tribal loyalties, and the Iraqi army lacks both the will and the skill to crush the Sunni insurgency and the Shiite militias who now control the country. 'œThe job now is to manage and mitigate failure.' Bush will probably play for time until his term expires, in 2009, all the while urging us not to give up the ship'”and 'œleaving it to others to deal with the wreckage on the burning deck.'

If we fail completely, the result will be uglier than most Americans realize, said Barry McCaffrey in The Washington Post. To withdraw, our 150,000 troops would have to fight their way back to the coast, trailing 'œburning pyres of abandoned military supplies.' Millions of terrified refugees would follow, as the remaining civil order collapsed. 'œThe resulting civil warfare would probably turn Iraq into a humanitarian disaster and might well draw in the Iranians and Syrians.' That's why Bush and the U.S. must do everything possible to rescue Iraq from the encroaching chaos.

What next?

The New York Times