Micheal Hirsh sees the surge

Two bits from the Michael Hirsh article on Bush's delay.

But there may be another reason why Bush is waiting a bit to speak to the nation. Inside the Pentagon, some experts think he may intend to launch a new offensive in Baghdad, and that he doesn't want to talk about it until it happens. It's a safe bet that, faced with irreconcilable advice, this president will always revert to his default position, which is to do whatever makes him look leaderlike and tough......

Bush's biggest problem right now is that most of what he is considering has been tried before. And that includes a new offensive. In early August, Operation Forward Together—the deployment of about 8,000 more U.S. troops into Baghdad—was also supposed to produce secure areas of the capital....

But if Bush is about to launch a new, bigger Operation Forward Together, that will allow Maliki to relax again. It will put off training the Iraqi Army and further delay the day we can leave. And that will mean, in some distant month, a whole new round of advice will begin in Washington.

What's that they say about doing the same thing over and over again?