I was popping off to a correspondent, fantasizing about how the proposed meeting with the Syrians would go if I were Bush: how I'd look Assad in the eye and remind him that if I'm not so good at stabilizing regimes, I'm still hell at toppling 'em, and how long did he think his sorry little militia would last if the Fedayeen fell in 3 weeks, and hadn't he better butt out of Lebanon & close his border pronto if he cared to hang on to his Ba'athist fiefdom awhile longer? Because I could hardly be more criticized than I already am, so I've nothing to lose and could easily plot a way out of Anbar province that went through Damascus. (I used
ahem the unladylike language I imagined Bush would use.) The reply, worthy of consideration: I
myself think that Baker is not a jerk (nor is Hamilton). I believe the "talks" being recommended are somewhat more diplomatic versions of yours: you need to do this to save your regime from Phase III of the war against terrorism. I am serious about believing that because Baker knows W. very well and recognizes that W. cannot accept defeatism as a policy.
UPDATE:
Heh. Bush to reporters last night:
This business about graceful exit just simply has no realism to it whatsoever.
