In Iraq, Patience is Not a Policy

[struggle4progress]

By Steve Chapman-Syndicated Columnist

When he was the Democratic leader in the Senate, George Mitchell ruefully reflected that his job had given him “the best-developed patience muscle in Washington.” The war in Iraq has done similar things for the rest of us. But the strengthening program is by no means done. Gen. David Petraeus was on Capitol Hill this week explaining why we need to keep on exercising forbearance, and keep on, and keep on.

By his reckoning, and that of Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, the administration’s policy of escalation has been a success. Violence has come down, political reconciliation is underway, and the Iraqi government is showing more initiative. Heck, Crocker marveled, you even see the newly designed Iraqi flag in all parts of the country, not just some ...

Where is Goldilocks when we need her? According to the administration, the circumstances for leaving are always too hot or too cold, but never just right. Petraeus thinks withdrawals should cease in July, at which time there will still be 140,000 American troops in Iraq — compared to about 132,000 when Bush embarked on this course ...

What this illustrates is that no matter what happens in Iraq, the Bush policy is always the same: stay the course. Says Brookings Institution national security analyst Ivo Daalder, “First we couldn’t withdraw because things were bad. Then we couldn’t withdraw because things were getting better. Now we can’t withdraw because things might get worse” ...

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