Surge Protection

Here is a link to the NRO symposium on President Bush's speech. I have a lot of respect for all of these contributors, and most seem to think the President said the right things. There are a few points of contention, of course, but overall the mood is, "Good ideas, now do it!"

Oh, and if you want to put yourself through the agony of the cowardly Democratic "Let's Quit" response, go here.

JASmius adds: I think Clifford May's thoughts most closely approximate my own:

1) "Stay the course" hasn't worked;

2) The "surge" may work - or may not, given its modest scope, failure to escalate hostilities with Iran or Syria, and limited time window in which to fully execute it.

It's his description of the consequences of when the Democrats cut off war funding, like they did thirty-three years ago in Vietnam, that bears repeating:

Nor would it be America’s last defeat. How many suicide-bombers would be required in the markets of Kabul before the chaos and carnage drove us out of Afghanistan as well? And then how long before Pakistan recognized who was the strong horse and who was the weak horse and switched its allegiance back where it used to be? How long before Jordan, Bangladesh and other countries sought accommodation with Tehran (a regime that knows how to project power in the 21st century) and distanced themselves from the United States (which will have demonstrated that it does not)? Bye-bye Lebanon.

Bye-bye Israel under a hail of Iranian nuclear missiles (or suicide bombers) as well. And where do you suppose said suicide bombers and their great big toys would go next once they had the Middle East in the bag?

See Jen's post below on the Keith Ellison Phenomenon. This puts that in just peachy context.