Diplomacy: What a Novel Idea!

Diplomacy seems to have fallen off the radar during the Shrublet Administration so it'll be interesting to see how the Cowboy-in-Chief will respond to the latest recommendation: try diplomacy.

President Bush received the report in an early morning meeting at the White House with commission members. He pledged to treat each proposal seriously and act in a "timely fashion."

He was flanked by the commission's co-chairmen, former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, and former Rep. Lee Hamilton in a remarkable scene — a president praising the work of a group that had just concluded his policy had led to chaos.

The report painted a grim picture of Iraq nearly four years after U.S. forces toppled Saddam Hussein. It urged Bush to embrace steps he has thus far rejected, including a call to involve Syria and Iran in negotiations over Iraq's future.

It warned that if the situation continues to deteriorate, there is a risk of a "slide toward chaos (that) could trigger the collapse of Iraq's government and a humanitarian catastrophe."

Gee, I thought we were already there.

REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ)