Bush may have been listening afterall

Contrary to the politics of the media and the hysterics of Hagel the Baker Hamilton Report (BHR) actually recommended "...a short-term ...surge of American combat forces to stabilize Baghdad ...if the U.S. commander in Iraq determines that such steps would be effective."

Additionally, it appears that Condoleezza Rice's recent visit to the Middle East whilst not establishing an 'Iraq International Support Group' as recommended by the BHR canvassed widely amongst various Arab countries and groups on what I imagine were issues recommended by the BHR.

George's recent State of the Union address also contains additional recommendations from the BHR which include the establishment of a Civilian Corps and additions to the ranks of depleted Marine and Army ranks.

I didn't agree with the Baker Report recommendation that "The President should restate that the United States does not seek to control Iraq’s oil." I think the less he has to say publicly the less likely it is to come back and bite the Administration on the ass. Bearing in mind that the Iraqi's have been under enormous pressure to sign the Petroleum Legislation framed around a PSA as opposed to royalties and with terms that make the Sakhalin II PSA look like a lotto win for the Russian's and we all know what happened there :))

If he follows the recommendations of the BHR and various milestones relating to that are achieved the BHR indicates that a withdrawal could commence in time before the next elections ....sorry I mean first quarter 2008 :)

There's only one major sticking point and that is that (at least publicly ) the Bush Administration has not modified it's regime change tune on Iran but blind Freddy can see that any plan is dead in the water without doing this. We can only hope that efforts are being made behind the scenes.

Perhaps this also explains why there has been little public admission by the Whitehouse of the Baker Hamilton Report letting the President save face with his original course of action. It may also explain why Congress elected to levy a non-sanctioned resolution at the President whilst still publicly appearing tell him off--avoiding any constituent backlash.