Monday, August 02, 2010

His Last

But if there is a victory (or even just an absence of civil war) it will be down to the Iraq surge that President Bush instituted and Senator Obama vehemently opposed. For that matter, as Politico acknowledges, it was Bush who, for better or for worse, instituted the troop withdrawal policy for which Obama today took credit.

It is far from clear that Bush's Baghdad "Dream Team" (Boot's phrase) can repeat its past success in the context of an ever-diminishing U.S. military presence. If it cannot, Obama's "first step" in his "victory lap" might be his last.

In any case, it's telling that Obama is relying just about entirely on Bush era policies and personnel as he tries to find something in the world to brag about.