Word: hamilton
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...accident that the surge idea began gathering steam among the war's most ardent supporters at exactly the same moment the Baker-Hamilton group proposed, in early December, that the White House start executing a slow but steady withdrawal from Iraq. To the neocons, former Secretary of State James Baker is the archenemy, the epitome of those internationalists who have always been too willing to cut deals with shady players overseas. His commission's 79 recommendations struck the neocons as defeatist--and a condemnation of a war they had thought up in the first place. And so, re-energized...
Bush greeted the Baker-Hamilton proposals with the gratitude of someone who had just received a box of rotting cod. He never much liked the internationalists (although--or perhaps because--his father is a charter member). By Christmas, it was clear that he had not only rejected a staged withdrawal in the mold of Baker-Hamilton but was ready to up his bet and throw even more troops at the problem. He began executing his pivot quietly. First, after reassuring Americans that he would ask for more troops only when the generals requested them, Bush amended that promise and hinted...
...Democrats like Levin and Sen. Joseph Biden, who takes over the Foreign Relations Committee, adamantly oppose a force increase. Levin favors a phased withdrawal of U.S. soldiers, much like the recommendation of the Iraq Study Group that former Secretary of State James Baker and former Indiana Rep. Lee Hamilton chaired...
...also plain to see last week that Bush's new approach on Iraq - if it can be called that - will include a diplomatic push by Secretary of State Condi Rice, aimed not at Iran and Syria, as the Baker Hamilton commission proposed, but at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. How sustained an effort this is likely to be is unknowable. Nor is there any word yet on what the Bush team plans to do about the political situation inside Iraq. It appears that the new Bush military strategy is likely to look a lot like the old, only more...
...what of Reid's support for a troop surge? Well, first, Democrats are split on what to do next, and there has always been a good chunk of the Senate caucus that might well back more, not fewer, troops. Though Democrats pushed the Baker-Hamilton commission behind the scenes (to no avail) to set firm timetables for U.S. withdrawal, Reid's comments are a reminder that they are not yet ready to take such a hard line in public. The public may think Iraq is a mistake and a fiasco; but it may not be ready to bug out. Finally...