Realist Republicans Work on Getting out of Iraq

Washington Monthly has published a somber essay entitled "A Higher Power" about James Baker's attempts to extricate this administration from the debacle in Iraq. Some of the concerns expressed about the possible de-stabilization of Saudia Arabia, Jordan and Egypt are sobering. Here's a quote:

But with each passing day, the country is closer to the train wreck that Baker and others are said to fear. In the end, avoiding it might ride on the ability of Jim Baker to persuade the president that it's time to declare victory and exit.

"The object of our policy has to be to get our little white asses out of there as soon as possible," another working-group participant told me. To do that, he said, Baker must confront the president "like the way a family confronts an alcoholic. You bring everyone in, and you say, 'Look, my friend, it's time to change.'"