From Surrealism To Realism

It could be a rocky road, but we've started down it with the nomination of Robert Gates to replace Rumsfeld. Obviously, it's significant that Gates has been a member of the ISG; its forthcoming report on Iraq, previously anticipated, becomes even more important with the Gates nomination and the results of the midterm elections. Give Bush credit for quietly putting together a string of good or excellent nominees: Alito, Roberts, Paulson, and now Gates. Let's hope they more than compensate for the damaging or thankfully abandoned ones including Rumsfeld, Brownie, Kerik, and Miers.

Here's the problem: At this point, even a good choice like Gates is a bit like using Crazy Glue to fix that priceless vase you just broke and had forgotten to insure. By his own tiresome rhetoric, Bush has defined victory in Iraq as that day/week/month/year when people who've been fighting for centuries magically stop; anything less would mean ceding the country to "terrorists." In doing so, he's guaranteed that if/when we do leave -- under a future administration, obviously -- our departure will have the odor of retreat regardless of how we spin it. It's the definition of a quagmire. Gates can't change that reality (though he may have a considerable impact on our Iran policy) and I doubt he'll have much impact on the administration's current plan to hunker down and play out the string for the next two years, hoping things don't go completely south and that our own casualties come down somewhat and stay politically "manageable."

It seems like another Purple Finger moment. But I guess we can hope.