from Blogger DDay:
Tim Russert just gave a report that shouldn’t shock, but did. He met with the President today in advance of his speech tonight. He’s going to push for a long-term strategic relationship with Iraq that would put us in the region permanently. He’s likening it to the Korean War (what’s the Demilitarized Zone, the whole country?). And then there’s this.
The President kept talking about funding common ground with the Democrats. Russert asked the President what common ground means? The President answered, “accepting the Petraeus report.”
And then Russert asked about Jim Webb’s readiness bill, which would mandate keeping troops in a 1:1 ratio (12 months out, 12 months back) and ensuring that our troops are rested and properly trained. He answered that if that is done to tie his hands on troop numbers, he would CALL UP MORE RESERVES AND NATIONAL GUARD FORCES.
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So what President Bush is proposing is an extended stay in Iraq well beyond his presidency. Whatever happened to the man who said he didn’t want to create new problems to pass on to future presidents?
The nut here is how do the Republican candidates for president react to this news? Bush is painting them into a corner.