Bob Herbert’s op-ed piece today is great. It’s remarkable how much of a non-story the continuation of the war in Iraq is. We don’t hear much about it besides the daily toll of human life to roadside bombs and suicide attacks. Even in the blogosphere, there isn’t a lot of talk about the war beyond the “we should just go home now” ilk. Herbert’s piece adds some nice perspective on the course America is on fighting the war in Iraq. Of note:

The latest fantasy out of Washington is that American-trained Iraqi forces will ultimately be able to do what the American forces have not: defeat the insurgency and pacify Iraq.

“We’ve learned that Iraqis are courageous and that they need additional skills,” said Mr. Bush in his television address. “And that is why a major part of our mission is to train them so they can do the fighting, and then our troops can come home.”

Don’t hold your breath. This is another example of the administration’s inability to distinguish between a strategy and a wish.

I think the wish/strategy bipole is probably the most accurate description of how the Bush administration thinks and works, and why they are utterly failing our military, the nation, and the world.

Philo