Editorial: Another Hundred Years’ War?

Wednesday, April 18, 2007 | 7:10 a.m.

In long speeches before select, friendly audiences, President Bush in the past several days has been using a lot of words to make what is actually a terse point, namely that he won't budge on his tragically failing Iraq war policy.

From his "stay the course" policy in 2004 even as the war became an obvious quagmire, to today, as he accuses Democrats of undercutting the troops for not blindly following his lead, Bush has never had a coherent war plan.

He listens only to those who would commit the United States to the war in perpetuity, regardless of how many U.S. troops are killed or wounded, of how many Iraqi civilians are abducted and killed each day, of how much hatred toward our country is being sown in the Arab world and of how many hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayers' money is committed.

Bush is scheduled to meet with Democratic leaders today to discuss a bill that would throw billions more at the war. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., obtained majority votes in their respective chambers of Congress on how the spending bill that reaches the president's desk should be worded.

Although the Senate and House are still negotiating the bill's final wording, it will assuredly tie the new spending to a new course for Iraq. Included would be increased pressure on the Iraqi prime minister to end the country's civil war through political means, and a graduated withdrawal of U.S. forces that would begin next year.

In his speeches, Bush has essentially been saying that today's meeting will be pointless, as he will veto any bill that is not "clean," meaning devoid of any wording that would bind him to a clear plan for ending the bloodshed.

Reid has said the Democrats are committed to funding the troops, even as they are committed to changing the war's course. But from Bush's words, we can conclude only that he is committed to one thing - clinging to a failed war policy that is becoming more deadly by the day.