Silly Sully's Memo to Kerry

Andrew Sullivan is still one of the most insightful bloggers in the sphere. He earnestly cruises the highway of thoughtfulness on almost all issues. There are two topics, though, that provide off ramps into ranting territory nearly every time: (1) gay marriage, and (2) Iraq.

His take on Kerry is well worth reading, until... uh oh... Iraq time:

This is a man who clearly wants the U.S. out of the region where our future is
at stake, and who believes that simply by taking office, other powers can
somehow pick up the slack. Memo to Kerry: no other powers can pick up the slack.
They don't have the troops or the technology or the will.

Presumably Sullivan is suggesting that President Bush invaded and occupied Iraq knowing that this was a job to be shouldered by good old American boys, with a couple Brits tossed in for good measure. Yep, our President never expected any other powers to pick up the slack. I mean, it wasn't like Bush tried to get other powers to help out, but failed miserably in his childish effort at diplomacy, right?

Can we collectively thank Atrios for pulling this out of the memory hole from May 2003, just over a year ago? -

The Bush administration is planning to withdraw most United States combat
forces from Iraq over the next several months and wants to shrink the American
military presence to less than two divisions by the fall, senior allied
officials said today.

The United States currently has more than five divisions in Iraq, troops
that fought their way into the country and units that were added in an attempt
to stabilize it. But the Bush administration is trying to establish a new
military structure in which American troops would continue to secure Baghdad
while the majority of the forces in Iraq would be from other nations.

The simple truth is that Bush failed to adequately internationalize the Iraq effort. Sullivan is correct about one thing: other powers do not currently have the will to assist Bush with his botched distraction from the War on Radical Islamic Terrorists. Kerry can help foster that will with a "hey-listen-I-agree-Bush-effed-this-place-up-but-how-about-lending-me-a-hand-to-fix-this-mess" approach. Seems simple enough to me.