Another reason Bush will bug out of Iraq next year

The Vietnam comparisons keep getting more and more apt. This is from an article by Lawrence Korb:

Gen. Maxwell Taylor, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for President Lyndon Johnson, said that while we sent the Army to Vietnam to save Vietnam, we had to withdraw to save the Army. This is where we are today.

If Iraq were a war of necessity, the U.S. would simply send sufficient ground forces there for the duration. But, since it is a war of choice, fought by volunteers, the active-duty soldiers spend a year in Iraq and at least a year at home before going back.

And the Army does not want to order a soldier to be sent back a third time. By the end of this year, nearly every active-duty soldier will have spent at least two tours in Iraq.

Third tours are nigh, and third tours will destroy the army.

Of course, Bush has to figure out how to bug out without losing face. This is his dilemma, one highlighted by Cindy Sheehan's vigil at Crawford. The bugout from Iraq will be an admission of failure by the Republicans and the Bush administration. Yet there is now no alternative. The only question is how long it can be delayed and papered over.