Friedman on the Iraq Mess

Well, it is nice to see Tom Friedman back from his book in time for the November election. And unsurprisingly he has a pretty pithy column about the situation in Iraq and his disillusionment with the manner in which the Bush administration has carried out this war:

But my time off has clarified for me, even more, that this Bush team can't get us there, and may have so messed things up that no one can. Why? Because each time the Bush team had to choose between doing the right thing in the war on terrorism or siding with its political base and ideology, it chose its base and ideology.

As terrible as Kerry's wavering and politically motivated stance on Iraq has been over the past year, he now finds himself in a box partly due to the absolute ineptness of Bush's conduct on the war. I was talking to a middle-aged Scottish guy a few weeks ago on a bus from Oktoberfest to the Ryanairport of Frankfurt, and he wanted to know what Kerry would do differently in Iraq. The answer that he would mostly stay the course drew a reaction of scorn and derision. But what else can you do? Nader's plan to pull out the troops now is ridiculous, and Bush has bungled the situation so much that pleas to other countries to help will surely fall on deaf ears if Kerry gets inaugurated in January. The summit idea is laughable, but what else can you say? Except maybe to say that you cannot put Humpty Dumpty back together again, but at least you have the judgment to insure that this never happens again, and that you can make the best of a catastrophic situation? It is a "I am not Bush" argument. It is difficult to make this argument straight away, which is why the "victory" of Kerry in the debate helps him enormously, even though the global test line has the Bush team on offence again. Fortunately it is the last word on Iraq for a little while. The domestic side should give Kerry ample room to pounce next week, on issues that resonate. The only question is what random Oxford college will I find to watch it this time around?