[Preechr]

The Bush administration, just like Clinton and all the others, is primarily a political entity with political goals. They only know what actual smart people tell them, and so any decisions they make are made based in information accumulated by others. We are not at war in Iraq because of what George W Bush knows about Iraqis or terrorists. He picks from preformed plans arrayed for him with the goal of politics being first and foremost. He doesn't even have beliefs of his own.

Imagine military plans A-Z laid out on a table, scenarios that would have us attacking everybody from Australia to Zimbabwe. Plans G, H, and V only work as a strategy if they adhere to a coherent belief structure. All this is pre-packaged, and the President simply picks what he can sell politically. Clinton took the easiest route possible. At least Bush had the guts to pick a strategy even though he wasn't up to the task of selling it.