Opinion: 2005 Elections in Iraq and Beyond. A new year may find President Bush caught between Iraq and a hard place. The President’s dilemma is highlighted in a recent article by Thomas E. Ricks in the Washington Post. Ricks quotes retired Marine Lt. Col. Jay Stout who is no longer confident about what the U. S. strategy in Iraq should be. Stout says, “We have few choices: We can maintain the status quo while trying to build an Iraqi government that will survive, we can get the hell out now and leave them to kill themselves, or we can adopt a more brutal and repressive stance.” [...] (ChronWatch)