Kerry announces plan for Iraq

"Over the past year the Bush administration has advanced several plans for a transition to democratic rule in Iraq. Each of those plans, after proving to be unworkable, was abandoned. The administration has set a date (June 30) for returning authority to an Iraqi entity to run the country, but there is no agreement with the Iraqis on how it will be constituted to make it representative enough to have popular legitimacy. Because of the way the White House has run the war, we are left with the United States bearing most of the costs and risks associated with every aspect of the Iraqi transition. We have lost lives, time, momentum and credibility. And we are seeing increasing numbers of Iraqis lashing out at the United States to express their frustration over what the Bush administration has and hasn't done."

John Kerry, writing in the Washington Post, explains how he would manage Mess-o-potamia and develop a Poli-Mil plan for Iraq. The Political-Military plan was the term used during the Clinton administration; in places like Haiti, Clinton knew the military would quickly secure the country, but what happens afterward -- the political and humanitarian issues that could undermine military success.

Kerry understands that and, based on the miserable failure's performance last night, even to this day Bush does not.

Harold Meyerson notes that Kerry is unusually forthcoming for a candidate.