Here We Go

Moqtada Al-Sadr has a big fat target on him. That's the only explanation for al-Maliki announcing he's going after all sectarian militias, and then actually appearing to do so. Sounds like, with Bush about to announce a major surge, al-Maliki got religion. Or as Captain Ed put it, the vidphone chat between Bush and al-Maliki would have been of the "Come to Jesus" variety.

NYT's Sanger says Bush will send "as many as 20,000" troops to Baghdad, and wants Congress to give him $1 billion for an Iraqi jobs program. Sounds like a plan, when you consider how massive unemployment fuels despair, terrorism, insurgency. Congress is eager for Bush to accept defeat. I doubt they have the stones to seize it from the jaws of victory themselves. If Congress chooses to obstruct on a positive measure of this sort, it will look very very bad.

Whether or not Congress approves the jobs dough, Bush has all the authority he needs to put troops in the field, and it will become very difficult then for Congress to refuse Americans in combat the support they'll need.

So at this moment, as forces are being put into play, the most important elements will be aggression and perseverence. No deals with militias that don't involve aggressive disarming and seizure and prosecution of key leaders. No backing down, as in 2004. It may get ugly, but that is war. And we already know what the alternative is.

Meanwhile, John Dickerson has an interesting take at Slate, re the politics of surge. John McCain has long supported the war and, correctly in my view, slammed the tactics. With Bush going McCain's way, with McCain's blessing, McCain is going to own whatever happens in Iraq in the runup to 2008. McCain also has an 18-year-old son in the Marines who is likely to find himself in Iraq, executing his father's will. Big gamble on McCain's part, but McCain, whether you like what he says or not, generally goes with his gut.

Gateway has a very interesting post on an Iraqi citing developments over there: "Saddam’s execution starts an era of change for Iraq and the surrounding area."