Only fair to give him time

President Bush's mismanagement of the war in Iraq is resulting in record low approval ratings for his administration and widespread defection even from his own party's ranks.

Those defections, combined with Democratic opposition to Bush's policies, are coming to a head right now with a series of proposals before Congress to withdraw American troops from Iraq within the next year.

But as much as we have criticized the president, and as much as we want the troops to come home, these moves are premature.

When Congress agreed to Bush's "surge" it also agreed to wait until September to see if it had succeeded or failed. Oh, there was nothing formal in that deadline, it was merely a gentleman's agreement. But if there is any honor left in Washington, D.C., a handshake deal should still be binding.

So Congress should wait until the final report from Gen. Petreaus is out in September. There should be no rush to judgement.

Frankly, we believe the report will NOT show that significant progress has been made (no matter how badly the administration tries to "spin" it). We believe the report will indicate that American policy in Iraq has failed, that the Iraqi government has no hope of achieving the goals we have set for it, and that with or without American troops being caught in the crossfire, the county is mired in a bloody sectarian civil war that will eventually result in a partition of that troubled land. We've created a disaster that WE can no longer solve, no matter how many American lives we spend trying.

But Congress should still wait for the report. They should give Bush the full amount of time he asked for. That is only fair.

After that deadline, however, if the report indicates what we think it will, then Congress should take control of the Iraq war policy, bite the bullet, and order the withdrawal of American troops at the earliest possible date.

-- Kelly Everitt