WASHINGTON -LA TIMES- The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is expected to advise President Bush to reduce the U.S. force in Iraq next year by almost half, potentially creating a rift with top White House officials and other military commanders over the course of the war.
Actually, no. As James Joyner points out this morning this is hardly a major disagreement, since pretty much everyone has been saying this for weeks now:
As the name implies, the Surge was always intended to be a short term spike in forces. Pretty much every knowledgeable observer has said that the current levels are not sustainable for very long. Now, it may be that Gates’ proposal would cut troop strength somewhat further than has previously been announced but, really, it’s just haggling over numbers.
And so the question becomes, what does the leftist press gain by creating the image of an argument going on? Simple; they get to claim that the left finally overrode President Bush on his Iraq war plans. The left is desperate for any victory on Iraq it can find. In other words, they’re looking for our defeat. Thing is, as usual, it isn’t true.
Tags: BitsBlog, WHAT biased press?
