Peter Wehner praises his old boss:
George W. Bush’s unpopularity created the context for what I believe was easily his most impressive act as President: his advocacy of the surge despite the enormous opposition to it. People forget what many of us in the White House at the time never will: the across-the-board resistance from all Democrats, most Republicans, the entire foreign policy establishment, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the President’s own commanding general in Iraq, and the overwhelming majority of Americans to the surge. There was the very real sense that this plan might be strangled in its crib.
We will find out at some point if this really was in our long-term interest. What we do know is that this meme will be insisted on by those who still refuse to take responsibility for the worst foreign policy decision in modern times. But the last eight years were all about the refusal to take responsibility. Why would we believe these people would change now?