We need to recast the geo-strategic reference points of our Iraq policy. Some commentators have compared the Bush plan to a “Hail Mary” pass in football — a desperate heave deep down the field by a losing team at the end of the game. Actually, a far better analogy for the Bush plan is a draw play on third down with 20 yards to go in the first quarter. The play does have a chance of working if everything goes perfectly, but it is more likely to gain a few yards and set up a punt on the next down, after which the game can be continued under more favorable circumstances. ~Sen. Richard Lugar

Apparently, we need to recast our geostrategic reference points into a series of football reference points.  That should make them more amenable to the limited understanding of Mr. Bush, who was, after all, a “yell leader” in his younger days.  If we’re playing a “field position” game, as Sen. Lugar absurdly describes it, that means we had better have an awfully good “punt kicker.”  In the real world that means we would have to be something like a back-up plan when the surge (sorry, “draw play”) fails.  (For those paying attention, we don’t have any such back-up plan.) 

It will probably fail because the Iraqi government (sorry, I mean the “blockers”) is actually working with the death squads (er, “defensive line”) and our “quarterback” will get “tackled behind the line” for a “loss of five.”  Query: do we really want politicians who are routinely exposed to the Redskins to be using football analogies in connection with wars?   

See Michael Crowley‘s post on the same.