Editorial: Seeing the big picture

Thursday, June 28, 2007 | 7:22 a.m.

A s Sen. Richard Lugar spoke on the Senate floor Monday night, it was as if a camera lens that had been focusing interminably on Baghdad began widening its scope.

Gradually all of Iraq came into view, then its neighbors, then all of the Middle East and finally the scene included the United States. It was this scene that Lugar said should be contemplated in future policy debates about the anguishing war that President Bush started in Iraq.

Narrowly and contentiously concentrating on benchmarks, withdrawal timetables, surges and political calculations forces us to miss by a wide margin the bigger issue, that of forging coherent, long-term policy that enhances U.S. interests in the Middle East and beyond, Lugar said.

The six-term Indiana Republican, a Rhodes Scholar and Navy veteran who enjoys bipartisan respect in the Senate and around the world, harshly criticized Bush's war record.

"We have overestimated what the military can achieve, we have set goals that are unrealistic and we have inadequately factored in the broader regional consequences of our actions," Lugar said.

His criticism soared above the usual partisan acrimony that tends to envelop the debate over Iraq. It was limited, and used only to draw a contrast between where we are now in Iraq and where we should be headed.

Lugar's speech, which can be read or heard at http:/lugar.senate.gov , blunted both Bush's vision for a troop surge and the vision by war opponents for troop-withdrawal deadlines. He outlined bigger-picture policies, ones that would retain a strong U.S. presence in the region while creating a diplomatic forum "open to all parties in the Middle East."

We think Lugar has given the president an intelligent framework for redirecting our policy toward Iraq and toward the whole Middle East. He forcefully and persuasively advocated putting aside our shortsighted and partisan views and working together to reverse what this current "war without end" is doing to our national security and world image.

As for Congress, we hope it now understands that it needn't wait for a September briefing about the status of Bush's surge. It should begin cooperating on a new policy for Iraq and the Middle East, one that could tone down the growing hostilities between our nation and theirs.