Bush's Hail-Mary Pass -- George F. Will

. . . The president is probably wrong in thinking that 17,500 more U.S. troops can clear Baghdad until Iraqi forces can hold it. And he probably is wrong in thinking that economic pump-priming and jobs programs, which are usually disappointing when tried in America, can succeed amid Iraq's anarchy. Besides, Shiites are not torturing Sunnis with electric drills and Sunnis are not beheading Shiites because both sides are suffering the ennui of the unemployed. For Iraqis, ennui is a utopian aspiration.
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Both the president's speech, and the Democrats' response to it, delivered by Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, contained passages that bordered on the bizarre. The president said, "If the Iraqi government does not follow through on its promises, it will lose the support of the American people." But that support was long since forfeited. Durbin called upon Iraq's government to "disband" the militias and death squads. Not destroy, but "disband." How is that supposed to happen? By asking them nicely? . . . The great question is whether Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will cooperate with crushing the Mahdi Army, which is the instrument of his patron, Moqtada al-Sadr.
See here for the complete text.
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There is another bizare statement here, as well, and George Will made it:
Every source I've consulted save this one has flat-out stated, 'al-Maliki will not go against al-Sadr.'
Come on, Mr. Will, allow history to speak. Has he done anything remotely resembling standing up to al-Sadr in three years?
You might as well ask Bush to stand up to Cheney.