A Tale of Three Presidents

I'm pleased and frankly a little bit surprised to let you know that President Bush (our current President) has accepted and is now following The Wizard's very sage advice. I wrote this open letter to President Bush last week: President Bush: Accept the Victory You've Earned and Deserve

I urged President Bush to accept Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki's plan for a phased withdrawal (or timetable, if you prefer). Now, I have to admit that it's unlikely President Bush ever read my blog, but yesterday he did agree to a Time Horizon on Troop Cuts. The Associated Press Reports:

President Bush and Iraq's prime minister have agreed to set a "general time horizon" for bringing more U.S. troops home from the war, a dramatic shift from the administration's once-ironclad unwillingness to talk about any kind of deadline or timetable.

What is especially interesting is tonight's latest little wrinkle in the negotiations. It appears to many people that al-Maliki has signaled his endorsement of our future President Barack Obama's 16 month timetable for troop withdrawal (and likely favors Obama himself in the upcoming election). Although the Iraqi government quickly denied the rumours, that is possibly only a move to save face and preserve relations with the Bush administration.

As you all know I favored the surge from it's earliest proposal by Senator John McCain. I was extremely pleased when President Bush followed that advice.

It is ironic that the success about to be enjoyed by American President Bush, Iraqi President al-Maliki and future President Obama is all due to John McCain's military strategy, the one man who will never occupy the office of President.