In such negotiations, the foreign policy establishmentarians have in mind enlisting specifically Iran and Syria in the hope of securing their help with our extrication from Iraq.
The defense posture funded by the White House budget request would continue the gradual extrication of U.S. forces from so-called stability operations counterinsurgency campaigns while shifting emphasis to the Western Pacific.
But Mr Bush's pragmatism, his desire to win re-election and his distaste for state-building all point to an attempt at early extrication from the Iraqi mess, so long as he cannot be accused of cutting and running by either voters or historians.