At least, that's how I read today's news coming out of Amman.
The same day that the Iraq Study Group recommends a drawdown of troops in Iraq, Bush says that he won't do it.
I think this is an extraordinarily public rejection of the panel's findings even before they've been presented. But such a rejection seems so stupid that I wonder if I'm mistaken. More below.
If it is a rejection, then Bush has given the Democrats another stick with which to beat him. Why would he do that?
Also, the members of the Study Group will begin to come out strongly against "staying the course," which will put more pressure on Bush. C'mon, will Baker and Hamilton meekly turn around after Bush publicly rejects their work in advance? Actually, it'll be interesting to see whether Baker washes his hands of the whole thing, or attempts to whitewash what Bush is doing.
If, as the MSNBC story suggests, Bush is going to have Americans return to bases, that's an even worse situation. Why are they there if they are going to have to sit by while people are murdered, bombs destroy property, and (most important to the Bush administration) pipelines are blown up. They have to often sit by now - will that get even worse? Meanwhile, the militias will strenthen, the British will depart, and withdrawal of our troops will become more difficult. And, we'll all still be asking - what are they doing there?
In any case, I don't think Bush has grasped that he no longer has control of events in Iraq. They are controlling him. I saw some conservative columnist or other make the breathtaking statement along the lines that "Events in Iraq depend solely on the US's willpower." Not anymore.