The Joint Chiefs Stand Up, Finally

Good news from the Washington Post this morning, as it seems the uniformed Pentagon is finally telling Bush that no, he cannot have more troops to waste in Iraq just for appearance's sake.

Sending 15,000 to 30,000 more troops for a mission of possibly six to eight months is one of the central proposals on the table of the White House policy review to reverse the steady deterioration in Iraq. The option is being discussed as an element in a range of bigger packages, the officials said.

But the Joint Chiefs think the White House, after a month of talks, still does not have a defined mission and is latching on to the surge idea in part because of limited alternatives, despite warnings about the potential disadvantages for the military, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the White House review is not public....

The idea of a much larger military deployment for a longer mission is virtually off the table, at least so far, mainly for logistics reasons, say officials familiar with the debate. Any deployment of 40,000 to 50,000 would force the Pentagon to redeploy troops who were scheduled to go home.

It's clear now that people who thought Bush would be woken up by the ISG report were deluding themselves - and I count myself among those who were hoping that would happen. I wasn't optimistic, but I hope every day that something, somewhere will wake this White House up.

At this point, when absolutely everyone with any independence has rejected Bush, the only people left who can end this disaster are the Joint Chiefs. Let's hope they can make Bush see the light.