The big news of the day seems to be everyone taking a position of whether Bush will listen to the Iraq Study Group, or not.
What the hell, I may as well weigh in.
He won't.
Some of the recommendations are already being tried in Iraq such as the "use American's to train Iraqis" recommendation. But as Chuck Hagel pointed out last night on Lehrer, we've been doing that for years without success. I disagree with Hagel. I think we've successfully trained many many Iraqis on how to fight against American's and each other.
Other recommendations that are distinct from current policy, i.e. begin withdrawal or negotiate with Iran/Syria, will not be following by Bush. Bush, throughout his life, has adroitly ignored, avoided and generally dissed anything he didn't want to do. He ignored what he didn't want to know about WMD. He's avoided the truth about failure in Iraq. And he ignored, despite incredibly political pressure, the much ballyhooed 911 commission report. He has repeatedly and willfully rationalized his actions that have run completely counter to wise action. What exactly has changed in his fundamental personality to suggest that he might be flexible on the signature issue of his life? And besides all of that, what about the
Sunni regional despots like Saudi Arabia? Ironically, the United States is now literally,
LITERALLY, being held hostage by it's dependence on oil.
Bush will stay his course. The Pentagon will soon release it's own report on what to do in Iraq. Bush will report having "synthesized" all the recommendations, meaning that he will have cherry-picked recommendations consistent with his own plan, and will do exactly what he had always planned to do. If the Iraq war is to end before he leaves office, it will only be because a Democratic Congress cuts funding, or because events on the ground overtake Bush (
which, by the way, I think is highly likely). Assuming that Americans are still relevent in Iraq, Bush will be having
his Lyndon Johnson moment in a few weeks where the boy king will announce his plan to a waiting nation. Be prepared to be disappointed.
Updated: Just a question. Do you ever get the feeling that Bush is an addict who just can't give up his drug? An addict who is willing to destroy himself than face the reality?