WP. An interesting article on how the administration is lowering expectations over what can be achieved in Iraq. Frankly, I doubt that this new logic has made its way to the President.
"The terrorists cannot defeat us on the battlefield," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "The only way they can win is if we lose our nerve. That will not happen on my watch."There are still problems with this new framework. It assumes that our presence will improve things (even a little) if given enough time. All the evidence points to the contrary. Everything, from employment to basic services have declined since our arrival. The opposition is getting smarter and more capable by the day (our "Spanish Civil War") and there is no evidence that they are even in the ballpark of collapse. Finally, those that we consider allies (or passive players) are beginning to fragment and may soon turn on us. Right wing militias are on the march. Iraq will soon become a black hole that sucks in all of its adjacent states. Time is not on our side. We had our chance and squandered it. It's all downhill from here.
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