President resolves to stay the course

If weeks of unsettling news and troubling images from Iraq had led some Americans to question the wisdom of U.S. policy or the administration's resolve in its continued pursuit, it was clear last evening that George W. Bush was not among them.

It is an obligation of leadership to step up and speak up in times of doubt and despair. So the president is to be credited for taking prime time at such an apex of concern over the progress of the war to hold one of his rare news conferences.

The president is to be credited, too, for being so unequivocal in stating his intent that the United States stay the course in Iraq.

But just what is that course? The president vowed not to pull back from the commitment to hand over control of the Iraqi government to the Iraqis on June 30. But which Iraqis, and will they represent an adequate cross section of the Iraqi population to avoid devolution into civil war?

The president said American military commanders in the field would have as many troops as they need, and they need only ask. But how many will it take and how does the president plan to muster sufficient numbers if the need becomes massive? What prospects are there for increased military and human-services support from NATO and the United Nations?

The president insisted that the war in Iraq "is a theater in the war on terror," a battle that must be won to "make other victories more certain in the war against the terrorists."

But he offered no new evidence of Iraq's involvement in terror, including the 9/11 attacks, and seemed to cling to the all but disproved allegations about weapons of mass destruction -- "They could still be there."

And the president said he would have moved against Saddam Hussein "even knowing what I know today about the stockpiles of weapons."

So perhaps amid the expressions of resolve, Americans might also have found comforting in the president's remarks some sense of regret, some acknowledgment of mistakes. Leadership, after all, also demands humility and a willingness to examine one's actions.