So now the possibility of saving lives depends on the neurotic reaction of a man who never should have been president. His front line, represented by a Tony Snow already in defensive mode, "was to insist that 'there is nothing in here about pulling back militarily.'"
The whole point of the Baker Hamilton report, the New York Times editorial tells us, was to give Bush the political cover he needs to get out of the mess without looking like a complete failure. Bush may not be able to rise to the occasion. He may be too immature to accept the boost. He really may be that bad (just as bad as we believed he was all along).
The world has watched as Mr. Bush painted himself into a corner and then insisted it was a strategic decision. Even the Iraqis are trying to provide cover to for him to come tiptoeing back to the real world. Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s call for a regional conference on Iraq would allow the administration to get past its refusal to talk to Tehran and Damascus, by saying that ban was never meant to include Iraqi initiatives.
The Iraq report is a deeply diplomatic document, stuffed with “coulds” and “mights.” It is, all in all, exactly the kind of shades-of-gray thinking that Mr. Bush despises, and exactly what he needs to get the country out of the hole he has dug.
Al-Maliki's forebearance is an interesting new angle. We are forced to look at ourselves from the outside. To be fair, the president, though weak and no grown-up, should not be allowed to avoid the same self-examination.
