Bush: "Stay the course," but harder

This is really unbelievable. Bush is planning an escalation.

President George Bush has told senior advisers that the US and its allies must make "a last big push" to win the war in Iraq and that instead of beginning a troop withdrawal next year, he may increase US forces by up to 20,000 soldiers, according to sources familiar with the administration's internal deliberations.....

"You've got to remember, whatever the Democrats say, it's Bush still calling the shots. He believes it's a matter of political will. That's what [Henry] Kissinger told him. And he's going to stick with it," a former senior administration official said. "He [Bush] is in a state of denial about Iraq. Nobody else is any more. But he is. But he knows he's got less than a year, maybe six months, to make it work. If it fails, I expect the withdrawal process to begin next fall."....

Four-point strategy

· Increase US troop levels by up to 20,000 to secure Baghdad and allow redeployments elsewhere in Iraq

· Focus on regional cooperation with international conference and/or direct diplomatic involvement of countries such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia

· Revive reconciliation process between Sunni, Shia and others

· Increased resources from Congress to fund training and equipment of Iraqi security forces

Incredible. So, it's try everything once more. It seems my prediction of a coming escalation point was unfortunately correct.

By the way, why does this leak? If this is the administration's plan, they'd need to lay some serious political groundwork in the current environment, so was this leaked this early by someone who recognizes the colossal mistake this would be and wants to torpedo it?

Later: Mephi points out the possibility of this as a trial ballon. That's not a bad guess considering the completeness of the leak (it's not just the worst part, escalation.) Also, the fact that it appears in the Guardian rather than the WaPo or NYTimes indicates that it's not intended for a massive debilitating effect. So, maybe that's the reason for the "leak."

If this is a trial balloon, we all need to scream like hell. We don't need a year more of death to know that this won't work.