So this is what victory looks like, said Daniela Deane in The Washington Post. This week, President Bush finally laid out a detailed plan for winning the war in Iraq, with a three-stage plan to stabilize the country after its Dec. 15 elections. The first step, outlined in a 35-page document titled 'œOur National Strategy for Victory in Iraq,' is to pour more resources into Iraq's army and police forces, so they can relieve U.S. troops of the lion's share of the fighting. 'œIraqi forces have made real progress' in recent months, Bush said in a major policy speech, and are 'œincreasingly taking the lead' in defeating the insurgents. He offered no timetable for the handover but said he would defer to his commanders on the ground. 'œIf they tell me that the Iraqis are ready,' Bush said, 'œand that we'll be able to bring some Americans home, I will do that.'
Read between the lines, said Fred Kaplan in Slate.com. In 'œa mind bog of sheer cynicism,' Bush is laying the groundwork to start withdrawing U.S. troops in time for the 2006 congressional elections. Just a few weeks ago, the president and his chief bomb-thrower, Vice President Dick Cheney, were depicting advocates of withdrawal as cowards and possibly even traitors. But the American public is thoroughly weary of this war, and the administration is now signaling that victory is just a few trained Iraqi battalions away. Earlier this week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that the current deployment of 160,000 troops wouldn't be needed 'œthat much longer.' Funny: Just a few months ago, military experts said that just one of the Iraqi battalions was combat-ready. Bush, though, wants to frame the pullout on his terms, knowing full well that 'œnobody in Congress is going to call for a halt, much less a reversal, of the withdrawal.'
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