Shot Clock

Publius nails it:

A lot of people think the administration has no clear policy vision for Iraq and the Middle East more generally. That’s not true. They have a very clear vision — run out the clock. That’s the common thread across a number of fronts right now. They are simply playing for time in order to dump everything in the laps of their successor.

Foreign policy is obviously the big one here, but detainee treatment is another huge example–the Bush administration is trying to tie up the proceedings as long as possible, so all the substantive decisions will eventually have to be made by his successor.

This is a definite read-it-all post.