What a Surge Really Means

(6 of 6)
But that fact hides one other big political change since the November elections. Skepticism among Republicans about the President's thinking on Iraq has become reflexive. Over the past week, two Republican Senators, Richard Lugar of Indiana and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, indicated they were far from sold on the surge, and Chuck Hagel, a Vietnam veteran from Nebraska, called a surge "folly." A senior aide to a G.O.P. Senator told TIME that "requiring more troops without providing the goals or the message is a killer. It's a political killer."
And this is where the problem of the President's direction on Iraq only damages his cause in the long run. The White House imagines it is girding for battle against the Democrats and the naysayers who opposed the war in the first place. In fact, its fastest-growing problem is with Republicans who carried Bush's water on "stay the course" last fall. That gambit cost the party 36 seats in the House and Senate in November. One can only imagine what that number would have been--45? 55?--had Bush campaigned last fall for sending 20,000 more troops to Iraq instead.
Most Popular »
- Maclaren's Stroller Recall: A Stumbling Response Online
- Teen Obesity: Lack of Exercise May Not Be to Blame
- I Love Local Commercials
- Are You Getting Scammed by Facebook Games?
- China's 'Most Dangerous Woman' Gets a New Forum
- Let's Bail Out the Pot Dealers!
- After Maine, the Battle Lines Over Gay Marriage Harden
- Does Obama Have a Plan B for the Middle East?
- After the Recession, an Energy Crisis Could Loom
- Kevin Clash: The Man Behind Elmo
- Maclaren's Stroller Recall: A Stumbling Response Online
- Are You Getting Scammed by Facebook Games?
- Teen Obesity: Lack of Exercise May Not Be to Blame
- I Love Local Commercials
- Let's Bail Out the Pot Dealers!
- Does Obama Have a Plan B for the Middle East?
- Kevin Clash: The Man Behind Elmo
- After the Recession, an Energy Crisis Could Loom
- The Secrets Inside Your Dog's Mind
- Runners' High: Joggers Live Longer







RSS