Baker's Panel Rules Out Iraq Victory

[CatWoman]

WASHINGTON — A commission formed to assess the Iraq war and recommend a new course has ruled out the prospect of victory for America, according to draft policy options shared with The New York Sun by commission officials.

Currently, the 10-member commission — headed by a secretary of state for President George H.W. Bush, James Baker — is considering two option papers, "Stability First" and "Redeploy and Contain," both of which rule out any prospect of making Iraq a stable democracy in the near term.

More telling, however, is the ruling out of two options last month. One advocated minor fixes to the current war plan but kept intact the long-term vision of democracy in Iraq with regular elections. The second proposed that coalition forces focus their attacks only on Al Qaeda and not the wider insurgency.

Instead, the commission is headed toward presenting President Bush with two clear policy choices that contradict his rhetoric of establishing democracy in Iraq. The more palatable of the two choices for the White House, "Stability First," argues that the military should focus on stabilizing Baghdad while the American Embassy should work toward political accommodation with insurgents. The goal of nurturing a democracy in Iraq is dropped.

http://www.nysun.com/article/41371

[Virginia Dare]

1. Bush apparently belittled Baker yesterday...

during the press conference, even calling him "Jimmy" once, so it is clear that he's not at all happy about what Jimmy has been telling him, and that is that Iraq is essentially lost.

There was discussion on Hardball last night about the task force.

This group was obviously formed at Poppy's instigation and it's members probably hand-picked by Poppy and Jimmy. Jimmy's job is to strong-arm Jr. and the gang into going along with their plan, obviously folks like John Warner are already on board, Lee Hamilton's job is to get the Democrats to come to the table. Interestingly enough Sandra Day O'Conner is also on the panel, so perhaps she is the liaison to the SCOTUS. Whatever they're cooking up it's big, and it will hit probably shortly after the election.