Accepting Iraqi Reality

MULTIPLE reports on the "surge" of U.S. forces in Iraq -- including that due tomorrow from Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker -- ought to compel both the Bush administration and congressional Democrats to rethink their strategies. First and foremost, President Bush must accept the fact that what he defined as the principal objective of the military offensive, the stimulation of an Iraqi political settlement, has not been achieved. As we and many others anticipated, the idea that Iraqi leaders would take advantage of greater security in the country to strike deals was unrealistic; few of the political benchmarks Mr. Bush agreed on with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have been met.
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