Iraq

You know the Iraq war is in trouble, said Christopher Cooper in The Wall Street Journal, when even the hawks start looking for an exit. With the bloody insurgency showing no sign of abating, four congressional lawmakers—two from each party—have proposed a resolution requiring President Bush to set a timetable for leaving Iraq. One of the sponsors is Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina, the gung-ho Republican who led the fight to replace french fries with 'œfreedom fries.' And Jones isn't the only Republican who's getting restless. Florida Sen. Mel Martinez, a former Bush Cabinet member who once supported the war, now says he's 'œdiscouraged' by the lack of progress. Sen. Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, is complaining that the White House isn't facing reality. The nation is, though: Polls show that most Americans no longer think the Iraq war was 'œworth it,' and want the 140,000 U.S. troops to start coming home soon.

'œThe last thing we need in Iraq is a timetable for withdrawal,' said Brendan Miniter in OpinionJournal.com. Arbitrarily setting a date would 'œonly aid the enemy' by telling the rebels exactly how long they had to hold on. If U.S. forces leave before the Iraqi army is trained and the insurgency is contained, Iraq will be left at the mercy of Saddam Hussein's former henchmen and foreign terrorists. With the insurgents' bombs killing innocent Iraqis and U.S. troops every day, 'œit's hard not to get demoralized'—but in the age of terrorism, we can't afford a humiliating withdrawal. 'œThis is a war of a civil society versus the agents of anarchy,' and surrendering to terrorism and anarchy would cost us dearly in the end.

That sounds familiar, said Eleanor Clift in MSNBC.com. Wasn't that what Lyndon Johnson was saying about Vietnam and communism in 1966? Next time Bush is at his Crawford ranch, 'œhe should drive down I-35 to the LBJ Library,' and listen to the tapes of Johnson and Defense Secretary Robert McNamara trying to convince themselves that Vietnam could be won. Like LBJ, Bush 'œcan't be frank with the American people' about how badly this war is going. 'œHe may not even be capable of being honest with himself.' Bush, though, is right about one thing: Allowing Iraq to 'œdevolve into chaos' would be a catastrophe. The country would become a training ground for terrorists, and oil prices would skyrocket. But Americans are now wondering: Is there any real alternative to that grim outcome, except a permanent U.S. occupation?

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