"Social Darwinism on stilts: We failed them, now they’re on their own."

That's David Brooks's characterization of a typical Democratic alternative approach to Iraq. (TimesSelect link.) "So we are stuck with the Bush proposal as the only serious plan on offer."

If you can get through to the column, you'll see some background on the source of Bush's plan. According to Brooks, it represents an outright rejection of Prime Minister Maliki's idea:

Maliki essentially wanted the American troops protecting his flank but out of his hair. He didn’t want U.S. soldiers embedded with his own. He didn’t want American generals hovering over his shoulder. His government didn’t want any restraints on Shiite might....

The Iraqi government wants a unified non-sectarian solution in high-minded statements and in some distant, ideal world. But in the short term, and in the deepest reptilian folds of their brains, the Shiites are maneuvering amid the sectarian bloodbath all around.

Bush's speech glossed over this, according to Brooks, "to soothe the wounded pride of the Maliki government."