[Obadiah]

I still have a hard time with Tony due to his demand that Hastert resign - weeks before the mid term - but I think this is an important article. I think we need to pray for President Bush. Much is at stake. I know just about everyone has now given up on Bush and Iraq, but we ought not allow the pessimists to overcome us.

It is easy to simply give up and make all the hardship go away, however, the reality is that should we simply give up, we will find the consequences of that decision will be even more unbearable - by far.

The Democrats and the media have long been singing the siren song of withdrawing - "Peace with honor" - exactly as they did in Vietnam. We must not let them prevail again. Disaster will surely follow.

One criticism I do have of President Bush is that he allowed himself to get snookered into having Jim Baker anywhere near writing such a sensitive report dealing with Iraq. It was a known recipe for turmoil and trouble. In my estimation Baker is an oily snake, and he has once again done no favors to the President or to the American public. Rather, Baker has been allowed to yet again stoke his own ego and bring disaster to a sitting President.

Recall, it was JIM BAKER - almost alone - who counseled President Reagan in the entire Iran-Contra affair and we all know how well THAT turned out!

[princess leah]

This report should have only been staffed by current MILITARY personnel from Generals on down to Privates serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. What a joke that politicians would attempt to come up with any conclusions! BLowhards and useless idiots the lot of them!

[IrishMike]

James Baker, being called out of his business dealings by Congress to advise the president, has delivered a cynical document intended to build a political consensus for "honorable" surrender...... ??????????????????

President George W Bush is the only man with any honor left standing, since this cabal of has beens who comprise the 'Iraq surrender Group', along with the spineless 'elected representatives' of the people have absconded their duty.
Pray for the President, pray for our troops, lets win this thing in Iraq and move on...... Iran & Syria are waiting.

[Ramius]

I still stand with him. I believed going into Iraq was the right thing to do, still believe so, even now when the work is difficult.

[Nancee]

"James Baker, being called out of his business dealings by Congress to advise the president, has delivered a cynical document intended to build a political consensus for 'honorable' surrender."

In this case, an "honorable" surrender is a contradiction in terms!!

Nancee

[Manic_Episode]

Give em hell George.

[meandog]

There is a distinct and palpable difference between Bush and Lincoln: Lincoln was quick to fire those who demonstrated incompetency or lack of resolve: (Simon Cameron, Generals McClellan, Pope, Meade, Burnside and McDowell). Lincoln also was smart enough to seek input from a broad spectrum of advisers (many were Dims) and did not load up with a circle of sycophants around him. He listened to those who knew something about war strategy (General Scott's Anaconda plan) and embraced those who knew about fighting it with effective blocades (Admirals Farragut and Dahlgren). Bush, OTOH, retained services of neocons such as Perle, Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld to advise him on the war and rejected the advice of military generals like Zinni and Shinseki on troop levels.

[afraidfortherepublic]

I know just about everyone has now given up on Bush and Iraq, but we ought not allow the pessimists to overcome us.

Not me. I love President Bush and I trust him. He should rely upon his own judgement and should stop trying please everyone by "listening to his advisors".

[DTogo]

Bush has only himself to blame.

[goodnesswins]

President Bush is NOT alone....as much as this author would try and make it seem that way. Sheesh. He's got his God, his wife, and family, and millions of others....but, without the MSM and idiot politicians on his side, some think he is lonely. Such narcissists.

[7thson]

You know, back in WW II, if we had lost, it would have been terrible but I think history would have at least recognized that we went up against top notch militaries. I find it nearly unbelievable that people want to cut and run away from a bunch of thugs, whose only strategy - broadcast time and time again - is to demoralize the American public. I hope I do not anger people with this, but I just wish the President could say this. I guess I mean say it in a way people can relate to. Use, for example, street crime in any large U.S. city and ask, do you want to run away from these type of people.

I don't know. I'm just an old, fat retired sailor who never made it past E6. These career officers are suppose to have the answers - they are the ones who attend the war colleges and such. The officers on the ground over there are caught between a rock and a hard place - their career or doing what is right. Is it past time to tell the Iraqis over there no more bs, we're taking over and we're going to come down hard? I want the President to succeed because then America wins. And I realize that while casualties are low compared to other wars, the media keeps pounding away on it. President Bush is right - there are no do-overs and you have to live with the decisions you make. Billy Jeff got a pass because he never made hard decisions. I pray for this President and the United States.

[Cicero]

Bush has millions of friends and supporters if he would only take more trouble to reach out to them. Would that he would speak to his base more often, and spend less time making nice to Teddy Kennedy and Nancy Pelosi. Or Lincoln Chaffee.

Why on EARTH would he put his money and his support behind Lincoln Chaffee while he let Rick Santorum dangle in the wind? Why on EARTH did he let Bill Simon get shot down and then reach out for help and sympathy to the likes of Arnold Schwarzenneger?

He has spent far too much time making nice to his enemies and ignoring his real supporters.

[what's up]

If Washington gossip is right, even many of the president's own advisers in the White House and the key cabinet offices have given up on success.

C'mon Tony, you know better than that!

Tony, you have been almost always right in the past...that is, until your condemnation of Hastert and now this slightly weak-kneed article. Tony, please don't slip!

[Democratshavenobrains]

Someone should tell Blankley that General Patton, Abe Lincoln, Winston Churchill, and even Joseph Stalin were conquering rational populations. If there were Confederate suicide bombers killing Union troops in 1868, I doubt Lincoln would be thought of as highly as he is.

[tobyhill]

Failure as being the only option the President has is a total lie that the MSM has been trying to push down everyones throat and I bet they start getting nastier and nastier every time this President refuses to accept failure as an option.