Leadership

That's what it looks like. It's not exercised by committee. It doesn't waffle on polls. It does not take dictation.

A leader does take the counsel of grey hairs and the people's representatives, among many others. But then a leader, all by himself, with no one but himself to turn to in the end, makes a decision. A sometimes very difficult decision. There is a reason why our founding fathers set it up this way. They had spent enough time arguing with each other in committee to know that ultimately, one man all alone has to make the hardest decisions. As one of their heirs said a century and a half later, "The buck stops here."

There is not a lot that needs to be said about what George Bush said last night, except that it was the right thing. At long last, the key pieces are moving into play.

It isn't really about the number of troops. It is good that 21,500 tested, but rested combat troops are going in.

It's about what they will do with them. Aggressive leaders with a mandate to attack and kill will pair them with 10,000 to 12,000 Iraqi troops and throw them at the militias and the insurgents.

There are potential pitfalls to this approach. One of them is not that some of these soon-to-be-deployed soldiers will die ... and don't worry, you can rely on the AP to start a tally of the deaths of the newly deployed.

In war, death is a given. If and when it happens, it will mean that our soldiers have found and engaged the enemy, which I predict will die in much greater numbers.

The most immediate pitfall I see looming is that enemy has a headsup, and will attempt to melt away, using its advantage as an irregular native force to cache its weapons and stand on the street corner, whistling and acting normal, to bide its time.

This is why there must be provocations to draw them out. For starters, the beseiging and seizure of Moqtada al-Sadr and other criminal leaders, responsible for the murder of thousands. Relentless raids on their stronghold neighborhoods.

It won't be pretty. As he said, there will be bloody days ahead.

Bush also indicated that we can expect action on Iranian and Syrian soil, and he refered to the Stennis carrier group now underway to join the Eisenhower. He suggested this action will be related to the movement of weapons and terrorists harbored by Iran and Syria. As stated before, I strongly suspect they are contemplating stronger action against Iran's WMD sites. But first things first. Take down Iran's proxies in Iraq.

The only other thing I want to say tonight is that I found it somewhat telling that as I drove home around 11 p.m., the BBC's report on public radio was more relevant and balanced than what the Associated Press had sent over. The AP was actually breaking left of the BBC.

The BBC report I heard let George Bush lay out his war strategy and discussed its merits at length, seriously and without the usual badgering, before bringing in the pols to bash it. BBC's print version, with links to radio here. The Associated Press report's lede focused heavily on George Bush admitting mistakes -- something they stress every time he does, as though its something new and exciting. It's here. The president of the United States, addressing the nation on a critical matter of war, was barely allowed to get a few sentences out about what he actually plans to do before the AP jumped into the politics, crowing about his admissions of error and trumpeting the opposition's efforts to thwart him. An important part of the story, no doubt. But I'm sure the Democrats in Congress will be gratified to see the Associated Press is more interested in sideshow politics than it is in the heart of the matter: how do we move forward, for the security of our nation, for the security of the world and the region, in the face of very real threats.

AP wasn't the only one who felt bashing Chimpy McHilterburton rather than actually listening to him was the way to go. Here's the Chicago Trib. Newspapers all the way to Australia can't believe this man refuses to give up on the Iraqi people when the polls suggest people are frustrated by death and war and his political opposition is annoyed with him.

Here's what he actually said: full text.

Some quick answers on the gist of it from Michelle Malkin.

Don Surber is depressed. Sees it as more or less a withdrawal in a surge burkha. "Bush to Iraq: We had an Election Here, You Guys Lost."

Blue Crab gives Bush a B+, and thinks he also outmanuevered the opposition. They can't undercut him without looking like defeatist losers.

Outside the Beltway went inside for a pre-speech blogger briefing by Tony Snow. Joyner's summary here.

ABC: The surge is already underway, with advance elements of the 82nd Airborne already in Baghdad and a battalion arriving today.

WakeUpAmerica gives us the White House fact sheet.

Instapundit likes an Iraqi oil trust. Says about time.

No roundup is complete without a clueless dingbat, so here's a twofer: The Democratic Daily on Kerry's reaction.