We Know a Good Deal More Than We're Able To Say Publicly

George Bush, today, on Iraq exit strategy:

"People don't want me making decisions based on politics. They want me making decisions based on the recommendations of our generals on the ground. And that's exactly who I'll be listening to."

He's right, in a way. People should want him to receive vital input from generals on the ground regarding the military situation. But I really hope that people don't want generals on the ground in Iraq deciding for us whether it's worth risking the loss of more American lives for the sake of killing a few violent Sunnis here and there until such time as the Shiites are able to take over the task of killing a few violent Sunnis here and there. That is properly (and, I think, eventually will unavoidably be) a political decision.

Bush, again:

"I'm interested in winning. I want to defeat the terrorists."

Hmmm. "Defeating the terrorists" sounds like it could take years, decades, centuries, or an eternity. And didn't the objective in Iraq have something to do with WMDs? Why is it now about defeating terrorists?

"And I want our troops to come home. But I don't want them to come home without having achieved victory. We've got a strategy for victory."

Well, it's good you have one, I guess, but would you kindly stop telling us that you have a strategy, and start telling us what it is.

With any luck, we won't wait as long to find out what the strategy is as we've waited to find out exactly what kind of WMDs Saddam has and where in Iraq Bush & Cheney think they are.

And CIA Director Porter Goss says of the agency that it knows "a good deal more" about Al Qaida leaders Bin Laden and al-Zarqawi "than we're able to say publicly."

One might hope that would go without saying.