Kevin Drum has an interesting timeline from this week on the issue of extending the deployments of our soldiers in Iraq. On Monday, the president looked ready to blame extended tours on the Dems war funding bill. On Tuesday, Sec. Gates is forced to announce - thanks to a leak from within the DoD - that deployments were going to be extended from 12 to 15 months. On Thursday, the president's press secretary admitted that the president wasn't aware of the policy change until it was announced.
There are only two conclusions one can draw from this.
One: The president's spokeswoman is telling the truth. Although he is commander in chief, he has no idea what is going on with his armed forces. This would suggest that however ridiculous it might sound, we do in fact need a "war czar."
Two: The president's spokeswoman is mistaken, and the president did know about the change. His plan had been to wait and announce it after the veto. This would allow him to falsely blame the change on the Democrats, using the hardship imposed on our soldiers as a partisan political weapon.
I tend to believe the second more than the first. If I'm right, I can't help but wonder: who leaked the info, and why? Were they aware of the president's plan, and did they deliberately leak the information to short circuit his plan?
UPDATE: Once again, The Onion was way, WAY ahead of its time.
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