Thank you Ramus for mentioning the 104 acre Embassy on the Tigris River in Baghdad they call Bush's Palace which they are keeping as secret as possible. I've emailed Lou Dobbs and Tim Russert about this but neither have mentioned it to my knowledge. You are right the Bushies never plan to leave Iraq and as for Baker's plan that will be ignored by this administration like everything else that makes any sense. Bush has been a complete failure all of his life and they had to steal the 2000 election for him.

Bush's foreign policy (and indeed his entire administration, but his foreign policy especially) is now widely seen as a disaster. It is viewed as such across the board, from Democrats to realist Republicans from the Bush I and Reagan administrations. Events from Iraq to Iran to North Korean to elsewhere are spinning out of control. It is so bad that establishment interests are now seen as threatened. That's where the Baker commission is coming from.

Bush is completely frozen in his stance, and cannot provide leadership. He never could, but he is getting worse. I actually wonder if he is suffering some sort of psychological breakdown. But like it or not, he is going to be President until January, 2009. So what to do?

I think the only realistic alternative is to bring in more experienced and sensible establishment Republican leadership. I think we are going to see a shift in power, at least unofficial power, from Bush and Cheney to them. And though I'm a Democrat, I think that will be an improvement.

Condi Rice is useless as Secretary of State, and is too personally close to Bush. So, dump her (and Rumsfeld of course) and bring back Jim Baker. He is a grownup, a realist, knows the Middle East better, and has actually stood up to Israel at least once. He understands that it's important to talk even to your enemies, and not play a faux tough guy. US diplomacy might have some chance of working then. Right now, it is not.

How humiliating for Bush, to be bailed out once again by his father's friends, just like he has been his whole life. But it is the least he deserves.

Dave

Those folks who think that the Repubs have a plan to reintroduce the draft don't seem to realize that the essential difference between the '60's and now is the draft. The vague unhapiness of the American populace with the course of the war would become a tidal wave of protest if an honest draft were implemented

And rule by fiat from the FEMA Berechtgaden? (aka undisclosed underground bunker location...)

The press conference made it clear and no surprise: if Baker's report is going to have impact, it will not be with Bush, Rumsfeld, and Cheney. Could they be digging their own grave?

If Baker scores big, it will be after the election IF THE DEMOCRATS WIN a majority and hearings are held on the war. I'm sure Baker, as an old warhorse is well aware of this. It's never too late to show you have a conscience--which I understand is a Christian belief. If nothing else, his report could serve as a blueprint at least in terms of policy. Will the Democrats finally come out of the closet?

Another thing it will do is put more space between the Bush "strategy" and Republican lawmakers who are starting to see the writing on the wall. This is where Baker's credibility will be most valuable. I don't think he will be as easily dismissed as Mr. Blumenthal thinks. It's at the point where it isn't their loyalty that's being tested, but their intelligence.

After the election, it will be interesting to see what happens when Bush goes to Congress to ask for something. They've had six years of smooth sailing. This isn't a good time for re-calcitrant "left wing, disenchanted and third party" voters (for lack of better terms) to withold themselves from the political process--but I suspect many will since they receive so little attention.

...let's call the Iraq Study Group what it really is: The "Woodshed" Commission.

After all, Bush's last-minute press conference was the equivalent of any juvenile delinquent-- alternately glib and tongue-tied-- trying to worm his way out of what he knows he deserves and is coming: a severe lashing.

Usually, though, there is far less of a lag time... minutes or hours, not weeks.

Baker is of course Mr. Oilman. As one of the letter writers mentioned. "Four large oil conglomerates have just now sown up their lucrative contracts to get at that huge reservoir - second only to Saudi Arabia". So with that done we need to stay around and protect those contracts. We can't leave because they are building a large American Embassy complex with tennis courts and swimming pools and ELECTRICITY in the middle of Baghdad. We are not going anywhere.

It just breaks my heart to see the pictures of our dead kids every night on the News Hour. That we are killing hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians in addition to our own sad toll just makes it truly unbearable. We need to get out of Iraq..out of their oil and out of their country and leave them to run their own oil business. The question is WITH WHOM did the four large oil conglomerates sew up their lucrative contracts? And how are these contracts valid if the Iraqi people don't approve of them? Most Iraqis want us out of there and we should go. Run your cars on vegetable oil.. from veggies grown in the USA! Take your stock money out of Exxon..put it in alternative fuels.

And let's be realistic (hmmm, perhaps the word is cynical?): Baker's only getting involved because his buds on various corporate boards and in various lobbying groups are getting antsy.

Hell, they were told they'd have a brand-y-new Iraq to call their financial playground well before now, not a Land of Misfit & Broken People and Dreams, which is a very tame description of what Iraq is. (A state of civil war and a Wild West disaster area are more on target.)

Still, if Baker & Co. can work with the new Democratic leadership post-election to set much-needed time tables and eventually get more of our troops home, so be it. It was economic interests (and Dubya's mano-a-mano issue with Poppy) that got us in this mess, it'll be economic interests that get us out.