Bush Changes Faces, Not Stratergy

Bush's new plan is to shuffle the faces but not the course.

From Reuters:

The changes are part of a major realignment of administration personnel as Bush seeks to adjust his approach to Iraq, where nearly four years of a large U.S. military presence has failed to bring stability and an end to violence.

The current U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, Ryan Crocker, is expected to replace Zalmay Khalilzad in Baghdad as U.S. ambassador to Iraq. Khalilzad is expected to be nominated to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, three senior U.S. officials said on Thursday.

ABC News said Bush was expected to nominate Adm. William Fallon to replace Gen. John Abizaid as the head of U.S. Central Command, which is in charge of U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And, Lt. Gen. David Petraeus was expected to become the top ground commander in Iraq, replacing Gen. George Casey, ABC said, citing unnamed officials.

But there is little expectation that changing faces will mean a radical shift in policy called for by some opposition Democrats, who took control of the U.S. Congress on Thursday after an election dominated by the Iraq debate.

Bush is still giving top consideration to a short-term increase in U.S. troops to Baghdad and is expected to outline his plans in a speech next week. Asked what the theme would be, spokesman Tony Snow said: "Victory."

That last sentence is a gem, isn't it? This is at least the fourth plan for "victory" in Iraq from the Busheviks. It could be more. They fail so fast nowadays I've lost track.

Postscript Meanwhile, Ali Allawi, the former Iraqi Defense Minister and Bush crony who turned and is now a leader of the nationalist coalition which is one of two major new cross-sectarian power blocs emerging in Iraqi politics, has a different plan. It stresses Iraq's victory instead of Bush's and is well worth a read.