Dead-ender presidency-Bush digs in on stem cells, global warming & Iraq, but only delays the inevita

[babylonsister]

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-oe-brownstein25apr25,1,6061921.column?coll=la-news-a_section&ctrack=1&cset=true

Dead-ender presidency
Bush digs in on stem cells, global warming and Iraq, but he only delays the inevitable.
Ronald Brownstein
April 25, 2007

snip//

On Iraq, the path ahead is murkier, but a turn away from Bush's open-ended commitment also appears inevitable. For now, solid congressional Republican support is allowing Bush to resist Democratic proposals to unwind American involvement. But two trends are eroding Bush's stone wall.

One is the war's strain on the military. The Defense Department's announcement that it is extending tours for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan from 12 to 15 months — the longest stints since World War II — underscored the practical difficulty of sustaining such a large troop commitment.

The second is persistent public discontent over the war. In surveys, about 60% of Americans call the war a mistake. If the public remains disillusioned as 2008 nears — a good bet — the demand will grow even among Republican candidates for a plan to responsibly lead the U.S. out of Iraq.

Bush could begin building a consensus that emphasizes regional diplomacy and sharper pressure on Iraqis to reform and reconcile, and that ties a fair test of his surge with a commitment to begin withdrawing if it doesn't yield more progress than it has so far. But Bush appears determined to leave the hard job of forging a new direction to his successor.

Bush isn't looking backward on all tests. He's trolling for deals with Democrats on two big 21st century challenges — immigration and controlling entitlement costs — though the overall tension between the White House and Congress makes achieving agreement on those issues difficult.

But on stem cells, global warming and Iraq, Bush seems intent on defending the decisions he's made already, even at the price of obstructing a new consensus attempting to form around him. If Bush continues to view standing alone as the highest form of principle, he will never escape the dead end into which he's steered his second term.

[opihimoimoi]

1. Bush is poisoning the Well