Fantasy Debate

This comes as no particular surprise:

Official: Report will say none of Iraq’s goals met

WASHINGTON - A progress report on Iraq will conclude that the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad has not met any of its targets for political, economic and other reform, speeding up the Bush administration's reckoning on what to do next, a U.S. official said Monday.

This was, of course, utterly predictable, as is the next paragraph:

One likely result of the report will be a vastly accelerated debate among President Bush's top aides on withdrawing troops and scaling back the U.S. presence in Iraq.

Oh yes. Of course, there will be blistering debate about what to do next. The decision to draw down is just around the corner. Just like all of the other times before.

So the myth that "debate" over what to do in Iraq continues, even at this late hour. When a change in direction actually occurs, I'll believe it. Until then, I assume things stay the same because 1) the Bush administration is so tied to this war politically and "historically" they will never change course unless forced at gunpoint and 2) they know if they can simply limp to the end of this term, they can blame the failure on "Defeatocrats" and the press. Much easier to point fingers after they are gone than to admit that the single most important political decision of our time was a failure based on lies. So, despite the press' latest attempt to portray the Bush administration as though they are regular human beings, I loudly predict that this will change nothing, and that the war will drag on unless Congress can force the issue.

UPDATE: Of course, the context of "debate" in that paragraph could be between Bush and Democrats in Congress. If that is what the paragraph meant, then great. Although I am not sure that will lead to anything more concrete than the last Congressional challenge to Bush's war. In terms of internal debate within the Bush White House, that would all be for show, of course.