What's the Baker Commission up to?

There's some debate going on as to whether the Baker Commission is a) a White House front to endorse the President's policies and/or give him a politically easy out or b) a deliberate effort by Daddy Bush and his cohorts to force the President to change course. I somewhat favor alternative (b) for many reasons, and I think the fact that Bush has now appointed his own commission, separate from the Baker Commission, to do the same thing tends to confirm that Baker et al is not controlled by the White House and is viewed as a loose canon by Bush.

President Bush formally launched a sweeping internal review of Iraq policy yesterday, pulling together studies underway by various government agencies, according to U.S. officials.

The initiative, begun after Bush met at the White House with his foreign policy team, parallels the effort by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group to salvage U.S. policy in Iraq, develop an exit strategy and protect long-term U.S. interests in the region. The two reviews are not competitive, administration officials said, although the White House wants to complete the process before mid-December, about the time the Iraq Study Group's final report is expected.

The White House's decision changes the dynamics of what happens next to U.S. policy deliberations. The administration will have its own working document as well as recommendations from an independent bipartisan commission to consider as it struggles to prevent further deterioration in Iraq.