Predictability

Greg Djerejian gives John Kerry a well-deserved thrashing for his otiose and wilfully obtuse editorial in the New Yokels' Times:

Again, a "detailed plan with clear milestones and deadlines for the transfer of military and police responsibilities" would be a roadmap to the insurgents. And all this so that Senatorial blowhards like Kerry can windbag on a few months hence when the "plan...shared with Congress" misses a "deadline" because the going was a bit rougher than expected.
... This is typical Kerry isn't it? Pretend you have a new idea when, in actuality, what you are proposing is actually already taking place. But dramatize the issue and, without thinking through all the consequences, make more 'robust' the policy recommendation so it sounds like you are offering up something new.

[In the comments, one p.lukasiak, apparently maddened with rage, airs the chickenhawk sophistry, thus proving that everyone now knows the Starship Troopers rebuttal.]

Kevin Drum uses the Vietnam analogy to argue that a Democratic-led withdrawal would be bad politics:

Once again, America will appear to have been humiliated by a ragtag army. And despite the fact that polls seemed to demonstrate support for withdrawal, the aftermath will sit poorly with the American public. What's more, they'll know who to blame: Democrats.

What this shows, I suppose, is that Bush's opponents count on his steadfastness. I think Mr. Drum's claim is very probably true, and that Mr. Kerry's advisors know it. But they trust George Bush not to drop the ball, and this confidence emboldens them to more vociferous attacks than they would otherwise make -- more, in fact, than they probably mean.