Judging by his presentation of his "new" Iraq strategy, it appears that President Bush is merely hoping that a little more of the same will buy time for success of the old plan.

At the very least, Congress is going to have to press for more clarity on how this troop "surge" and reconstruction program is supposed to move Iraq any closer to stability than his failed program has.

And although Bush says the commitment of 20,000 isn't open-ended, it's not clear what Iraq will have to achieve before withdrawal can begin. We have to know what "victory" looks like.

He projects confidence that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will finally deliver on pledges to disband Shiite militias, overcome sectarianism and see that Iraqi forces take over security operations in Baghdad. The idea of embedding U.S. troops with the Iraqis makes sense militarily.

But otherwise, there's little basis for this confidence.

The problem today, as it has always been, is that a centralized government authority struggles for control in a region where loyalties to sect, tribe and family dominate. Any reasonable strategy must deal with the political reality, moving beyond the military landscape; so far, the Bush solution does not seem to address that.

The plan promises a multi-sectarian command, but sectarianism has divided not only the military but the government as well.

The al-Maliki administration must give the people a greater stake in the survival of this democracy if it is going to work at all. Sharing of oil revenues sounds promising, but a greater measure of home rule within warring provinces, for example, also deserves some consideration.

On top of the $5.6 billion for troops, Bush is proposing $1.2 billion for rebuilding and jobs programs. Iraq reportedly committed to spending $10 billion of its own on reconstruction. That much is encouraging, but American leaders are right to question how carefully all of this spending is being supervised.

Finally, Bush has not offered new diplomatic initiatives with Syria or Iran. This might feel good politically, but in reality it's tough to imagine how stability can be achieved without the U.S. expanding its regional diplomacy.

The president must work a lot harder before Americans — or the global community — can support his plan.