The Democrats’ bill to set a date to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq is just incompetent, a result of defeatist politicians trying to tell our professional, uniformed military how to conduct the war. So says President Bush.

But hasn’t he himself, a politician, been issuing orders to uniformed military for six years?

Wasn’t it he, not the uniformed military, who decided to invade Iraq?

Wasn’t it he who was wrong in all the reasons he gave for those orders?

Wasn’t it he whose post-invasion plans have led Iraq and U.S. troops ever deeper into a war that shows no sign of “victory”?

Of course politicians control the course of U.S. wars – that’s in the Constitution. The problem is that our chief politician has failed us every step of the way.

Al Bersbach, Vienna