The SanityPrompt

This blog represents some small and occasional efforts to add a note of sanity to discussions of politics and policy. This blog best viewed with Internet Explorer @ 1024x768

Friday, August 19, 2005

Mr. President, We Have a Problem

George Bush and the rest of the Right might want to take a break from their vacation from reality and wake up to the size of the growing problem they face in this country over the Iraq war. Yellow Dog Dem has a choice quote and asks if you can guess who said it.

Yellow Dog Dem: Who said it?: "'We are seen as occupiers, we are targets. We have got to get out. I don't think we can sustain our current policy, nor do I think we should'"

It's not Cindy Sheehan folks. It's one thing to smear her name and her supposed 'story'. It's quite another to ignore the more pressing details of the issues and how you respond to them. Sadly, this administration and president are in such a little isolated echo chamber of their own voices (even Peter Beinart is starting to realize this) that they are missing the turning tide against this war. And I am skeptical that the current strategy provides them any weapons to stabilize the situation let alone turn it around. That said, the inevitable retreat is just a matter of time. The war opposition (like David Sirota & Mark Leon Goldberg) have made much of the fact that it's not necessarily good politics to back the war or parrot the lines of Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Evan Bayh or others. Point granted. But is it bad policy? No one on the Left has been able to refute the argument that a retreat now threatens our security. Russ Feingold makes some interesting points on that topic now.

But exit strategy? How about just a strategy? I'd settle for that at this point.