NEW YORK CITY—Regardless of the soundness of his or her vision, a leader's plans must be properly communicated to ever be truly effective. That's the conclusion Ethan Penner comes to in his latest post, as he looks at how Iraq has seemingly fallen apart after the successful advance of the militia from Syria.

He writes:

"Today's reality cannot be what President Bush or President Obama had hoped for. The citizens of Iraq, who tasted freedom and free elections, are now fighting for their lives and liberty again, and losing to a well-organized militia of Islamic extremists who hope to take control of Iraq. There is surely plenty of blame to go around, but the source of the problem must lie with President Bush's inability or unwillingness to communicate a well thought out game plan and obtain the necessary buy-in from the American public. Had he done this, the situation would be quite different today. If the public had repudiated his vision we'd either not have ever entered Iraq or he'd have been forced to modify or refine his vision further so as to sell it to his constituents. Either way the situation would be dramatically different."