For my money, Andrew Sullivan sums it up perfectly.
What we will discover in the next few months, therefore, is simply whether the entire premise of this strategy is actually true. The president is asking us to find this out one more time. He seems to disbelieve the overwhelming evidence on the ground – that the dynamic has changed beyond recognition. His intellectual rubric – democracy versus terror – has not changed to deal with fast-changing events, or to take account of the sectarian dynamic that his appallingly managed occupation has spawned.
Andrew Sullivan is an interesting writer. He’s conservative, supported the Iraq war, and Bush in 2000 (but not in 2004). He is disappointed with conservatives, the conduct of the war, and the intellectual dishonesty of political discourse. He’s written what appears to be an interesting book (among others). He was one of the first bloggers to figure out how to earn ~$80K a year blogging, and parlayed that into a gig writing (daily) for Time online. He’s smart, reasonable, and thoughtful, even when I disagree with his positions. If you’re of the left-wing persuasion, he is a good addition to your input mix.