Automatic Bob: The Bob Herbert Column Generator

The So-Called War on Terror
By "Automatic Bob" Herbert

Right now there is no viable plan for securing the peace in Iraq, and no exit strategy.

A genuine sense of alarm can actually be detected in the reality-resistant hierarchy of the Bush administration.

While our "What, me worry?" president is having a great time with his high approval ratings and his Top Gun fantasies, the economy remains in the tank. The sad truth about Iraq is that one year after President Bush gaudily proclaimed victory with his Top Gun moment aboard the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, we don't know what we're doing in Iraq. Mr. Bush's Top Gun moment aboard the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln was two and a half years ago. It was another example of the president in fantasyland.

You can forget the chatter about an exit strategy for American troops. There isn't one.

When the Army chief of staff, Gen. Eric Shinseki, dared to say publicly that several hundred thousand troops would be needed to occupy Iraq, he was ridiculed by the administration and his career was brought to a close.

As the situation in Iraq moves from bad to worse, the president, based on his public comments, seems to be edging further and further from reality. The administration that was so anxious to throw scores of thousands of healthy young Americans into the flames of war now has no idea how to get them out.

During the run-up to war, the public heard ominous references to mushroom clouds and was encouraged to believe there was a link between Saddam Hussein and Sept. 11. Colin Powell is heading toward the exit, to be replaced by Condoleezza Rice, who did her best to petrify the nation with loose talk about mushroom clouds.

The president continues to behave as if he's in denial about the war.