I've discussed what I think will transpire once the opponents of defeating radical Islam (in its many forms) believe they have gained the upper hand here, here, here, here, here and started here.
Now, the incoming NYT's editorial page editor, Andrew Rosenthal, has this to say:
If he sticks to these fictions about achieving victory and all the other things
that he keep talking about then we may have to change. It really does depend, I
mean, we're going to withdraw our troops from Iraq and we're going to do that
without initiating a fully functioning government that serves as a beacon of
hope for the Middle east. I mean its interesting and very instructive to go back
and look at last year's strategy for success in Iraq strategy included:
defeating terrorists, establishing full democracy in Iraq, an independent army,
and an Iraq that is part of the international economic system, I don't know what
that means. Are they supposed to join the IMF or the WTO I don' t know what the
heck that means. And this kind of burgeoning democracy throughout the Middle
East well none of that 's going to happen, I think that's pretty clear - at
least not in George Bush's timeframe.
Read the rest here. I think he is up to the NYT job, which is not to be confused with forming or expressing a cogent opinion. It is apparent to me that the NYT has told him his opinion and neither care a whit what the facts are.