Bush digs in at pivotal point in Iraq war
Politically weakened president gives no signs of altering course
Carolyn Lochhead, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Monday, December 4, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/12/04/MNGD9MOPG61.DTLEvents in Washington this week -- confirmation hearings beginning Tuesday for designated Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the release Wednesday of findings by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group -- bear all the markings of a turning point in the Iraq war.
But like the war itself, now 3 1/2 years long, the shift is likely to prove a slow and agonizing slide toward an inevitable retreat, rather than the decisive pullout many voters thought they might get last month when they handed Democrats control of Capitol Hill.
As politically weakened as President Bush is, as open to fresh eyes as he said his nomination of Gates to replace Donald Rumsfeld indicated, and as much political cover as the Iraq Study Group offers, Bush seems to be digging in.
Twice last week he declared his intention to "accept nothing less than victory for our children and our grandchildren."