Curiously I don't think GWB intended to be a Wilsonian evangel. It was mission creep. Began as a WMD issue..Morphed into removing Saddam and the Baathists then evolved into a democracy gambit...then became an anti-terror gambit then a nation building gambit and then a lets turn Iraq intoa platform for "remaking the map of the middle east." The ultimate in mission creep.
My read?...Either send overwhelming force or don't bother. 20k is chump change and more mission creep. The same mistake we made in Vietnam. Incrementalism at its worst.
For all the sincerity of this effort I think it is too little too late.
“If Iraq is going to fulfill its role as a sovereign and democratic state, it must start acting like one. It is for this reason that I oppose the proposal for a troop surge.” – Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn.
I don't believe that sending more American troops is going to help Iraqis become better at self-governing, nor will it decisively take out the terrorists that air strikes could have vaporized long ago.
All the same, I wish our guys the best. If Petraeus can lead them to victory, then "Git 'er done."