Turning No Corners

Instead they want to push on, hoping that something will turn up. They resemble their own parody of liberal do-gooders insisting on continuing flawed and foolish programs no matter how obvious it becomes that their efforts are doing more harm than good.

If this year's election is to be about the future, the debate cannot be about whether or not the surge "worked." McCain will have to provide a more specific and realistic definition of success. He will need to be much clearer than he has been as to how it would be achieved and when. Above all, he needs to tell us why an indefinite occupation of Iraq is worth the price.

And it will fall to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to argue persuasively that ending our obsession with Iraq is in fact the first step toward restoring American power.

There was a certain pathos in Bush's speech yesterday as he made the usual promises, the usual optimistic noises and the usual resolute sounds about a war he never expected to go this badly. Iraq has become everything for Bush. That is no reason why it should be everything for the rest of us.

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