For all his chest-beating machismo, when the chips are down George W. Bush shows that he ain’t no commander-in-chief. Good riddance to that notion.
But without a President with a plan, no civilian is overseeing the military. Regardless of whether people believe Petraeus is presenting an honest assessment or not, since when does the military set national policy? The military achieves goals set by the President and Congress. The alternative would be like asking your contractor to design your new kitchen.
Since the collapses of his various justifications for war, Bush has had no coherent achievable goals, nor reasonable fallback positions from the ideal outcome. If a democratic Iraq is not possible, what’s Plan B? A stable, authoritarian Iraq? A raging civil war?
Petraeus’ testimony only informs us about what’s happened so far and some assessment of what’s possible. No one — not Bush, not the Presidential candidates from either party — have suggested any real goals for what we should be trying to accomplish in Iraq. Avoiding goals means you can’t fail, but you also can’t succeed.
