Iraq is the central front in the war on terror. With strong leadership from both President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld, we can turn the situation there from one of embarrassment to resounding victory. In this week's Weekly Standard, William Kristol provides a five-step to-do list for the administration:

First, Mr. Kristol suggests the president stop apologizing and order legal proceedings regarding the prison abuses move ahead as quickly as possible. I agree the apologies are not necessary and must cease. However, the president should avoid making statements which appear to direct prosecution of the offenses; such statements could, as I discussed a week ago, be construed as illegal command influence. Instead, President Bush should declare his confidence in the military justice system, and let the military commanders prosecutors take care of the offenders.

Second, Mr. Kristol believes President Bush should order the SecDef to send an additional 50,000 troops to Iraq and provide a plan to increase the size of the armed forces to deal with the remaining goals in the war on terror. It’s hard to see how having lots of Americans on the ground will, by itself, improve the situation, but Mr. Kristol provides further clarification.

Third, he insists that the president order “combatant commanders to move aggressively to see to it that killers of Americans are killed, that those who aid those killers are held responsible, and that the insurgents are crushed.” Can’t argue with that!

Fourth, the author wants President Bush to announce Iraqi elections will be held in the fall, in advance of the original timeline. I think Mr. Kristol is getting into dangerous territory here. If we indeed give political control to Iraqis on June 30, how can we ensure this goal is met? The president should never make promises that are beyond his power to keep, and this is one.

Finally, Mr. Kristol advises, “The president cancels his own political travel for the next few weeks to engage in an intensive review with his top advisers of our strategy and tactics, to ensure that we are on, or can get onto, a path to decisive victory.”

Agreed. This is the perfect chance for President Bush to act as the commander-in-chief, he should seize this moment and lead from the front.

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