MOVEON HAS INFILTRATED THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF.

MOVEON HAS INFILTRATED THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF. Bush wants to "surge" up to 30,000 combat forces into Iraq for six to eight months. The Joint Chiefs of Staff say no. And take a look at their argument:

The Pentagon has cautioned that a modest surge could lead to more attacks by al-Qaeda, provide more targets for Sunni insurgents and fuel the jihadist appeal for more foreign fighters to flock to Iraq to attack U.S. troops, the officials said.The informal but well-armed Shiite militias, the Joint Chiefs have also warned, may simply melt back into society during a U.S. surge and wait until the troops are withdrawn -- then reemerge and retake the streets of Baghdad and other cities.

Notice that this argument isn't merely an argument about a surge. Its logic applies to the entire combat mission in Iraq. (And if you think the "training mission" entails a lack of U.S. combat, there's a bridge I might be able to interest you in.) Apparently after six years of Rumsfeld-enforced docility, the service chiefs are finally ready to stand up for the frontline soldiers and marines. Admittedly, uniformed dissent is a slow process, but history suggests that it snowballs once it gets going. If Bush ignores the chiefs, get ready for its rapid acceleration.

--Spencer Ackerman