A reader, Charles A. Johnson, writes:
As for your posting today about asking President Bush about sending more troops to Iraq, why do you think the White House has been resistant to the idea for so long? Is President Bush, remembering Johnson/McNamara, concerned about being an arm-chair general and running the war from the Oval Office? Or, is it a matter of logistics – do we have the troops available?
It’s very much the former. The president specifically mentioned Johnson picking bombing targets. But of course there are other possible errors in warmaking — like not doing everything possible to win.