Almost everyone knows that chances of a complete ‘victory’ for the US in Iraq are next to impossible. There are no easy options. The aim is to get the best deal out of the mess.

The president who will do the dirty work is going to face public flak. Bush is going to breeze through his term with his undying confidence, but the next incumbent will be left holding the bag. Hillary Clinton knows that well, as she said,

The president has no intention of changing his policy in Iraq. He’s now talking about leaving it to his successor.

Good chances are that Hillary Clinton will be the next US president. What should she say about Iraq? A difficult thing for her; in fact it is proving to be a dilemma for all presidential candidates. She is doing her best.

To start with she has given Gen Petraeus full marks. Criticizing a military man, and a sincere looking soldier like Petraeus, would be suicidal for any presidential hopeful.

What should say about Iraq? She knows all the options are going to be unpalatable to the US public. She has started to tell the people about them, but carefully. Blunt talking at this stage would mean curtains for her presidential campaign.

So she says, she does want that the country’s purse-strings be fully loosened for Bush to splurge on Iraq. This state of affairs cannot go on forever — make a concrete plan for troop withdrawal. She has supported bills to reign in Bush on Iraq.

She wants Iraqi Prime Minister Noori al-Maliki to grow up and show some results. Read that as get Iraq’s warring communities together into the country’s political process. Maliki has reacted with nationalistic righteousness which fools no one.

About getting the troops out, she very well knows that complete withdrawal will mean another Vietnam for US — perhaps, a big stunning blow to the country’s confidence.

She says,

This is going to be very dangerous and very difficult. A lot of people don’t like to hear that.

So, she propagates pulling out most troops, but leaving some behind to train Iraqi troops and to fight Al Qaeda in Iraq. Clinton says that according to experts only one brigade can be pulled out every month. There are 20 US brigades in Iraq; meaning the process is going to be a long one.

Top of that, she has been labeled as being fickle. In 2003 she had supported Bush’s plan to invade Iraq. Republicans say she is doing the opposite now.

In response, she says that she did not realize Bush was going to create such a mess in Iraq.