Tilting at windmills.

• Author: Peters, Charles
• Position: Drawing troops from Iraq

Cut and run I

One of my favorite columnists, Molly Ivins, points out that after roundly condemning Democrats as a bunch of cut-and-run sissies, the administration proceeded to announce its own version of cut and run when Gen. George W. Casey Jr. unveiled his plan to reduce the number of combat brigades in Iraq from 14 to five or six, with the withdrawal neatly timed to begin in September, two months before the November election. Molly comments, "They don't call him George W. Jr. for nothing."

Why they don't fight

One reason we continue to be mired in Iraq is the painfully slow progress made in training Iraqi troops to replace our own. And one reason for the slowness is the riving conditions of the Iraqi soldiers. For this point, I'm indebted to The Wall Street Journal's Greg Jaffe, whose original reporting highlights the contrast between the Iraqi and American troops at Camp Taji:

"On one side, about 10,000 U.S. Army soldiers live in air-conditioned trailers. There's a movie theater, a Taco Bell and a post exchange the size of a Wal-Mart, stocked with everything from deodorants to DVD players.

"On the other side are a similar number of Iraqi soldiers ... [who] live in fetid barracks built by the British in the 1920s, ration the fuel they use to run their lights and sometimes eat spoiled food that makes them sick."

The Obama drama

There is no doubt in my mind that Barack Obama has the raw material to get elected president and govern the country wisely--and probably more of it than any of the other potential Democratic candidates. He is already a great speaker, and he could not have risen to the top of the Harvard Law Review without having an outstanding mind. He seems to have the right values and speaks easily of the Christianity he shares with most Americans. The greatest president of the last century, Franklin Roosevelt, was not embarrassed to do that. Indeed, he sold his programs like Social Security and Lend-Lease as applied Christianity.

Of course, other doubts about Obama remain. One wishes he had more experience, especially in the executive branch of government, where Roosevelt's eight years as assistant secretary of the navy at the intersection of the policy-makers and the civil service prepared him to establish the New Deal and win the war. John F. Kennedy had a similar lack of experience in the executive branch and it showed at the Bay of Pigs. But Kennedy had the capacity to learn. He was intensely curious, unlike the present incumbent. I look for signs of such curiosity in Obama that will mean he has Kennedy's capacity to grow. One sign to look for is evidence that he really listens.

I remember during the West Virginia primary in 1960 escorting Kennedy to one press interview after another in which I was stunned by the way he really listened to questions, with his answers displaying an appreciation of their unspoken subtext, even when the inquiry was less than artful. Everyone found out about this quality during Kennedy's presidential news conferences. You can hear them now on tape, and excerpts occasionally appear in television documentaries. Kennedy actually enjoyed the give-and-take instead of hating it, as Bush does. One good sign is that I'm told Obama displayed precisely this quality answering questions during a recent appearance at the National Press Club.

And $20,000 will buy you a little servant boy

Now not only can rich moms and dads buy their kids the leg up that a private school can offer, it also appears they can help little Jason or Jennifer take another step along the path to success. According to Slate's Timothy Noah, internships are now for sale at several of those auctions private schools use to raise money. A $10,000 bid could get Junior inside a major investment bank or into another lucrative career...