A comment from Instapundit, with regard to Max Boot’s WSJ column (following up on his previous article):

The commanders’ timetables are driven by a desire to win. The Washington politicians’ timetables are driven by a cowardly desire to have the war off the table before the 2008 elections.

Yes.

The key message from the Boot column:

It’s still possible to stave off catastrophic defeat in Iraq. But the only way to do it is to give Gen. Petraeus and his troops more time–at least another year–to try to change the dynamics on the ground. The surge strategy may be a long shot but every alternative is even worse.

Kind of like democracy.