The news this week that Boston Police Commissioner Paul Evans will step down this fall comes as a surprise. Evans has been an exemplary police commander, one who has engendered support and admiration from members of the force as well as the general public. His nine-year tenure as the city's top cop was notable for the remarkable sense of order and control his administration brought to the city streets.

Paul Evans was one of the first major appointments of Mayor Menino, and he has certainly been one of the best high-level public servants in our city. Known for his thoughtful manner and quiet demeanor, Paul Evans never was one given to seeking headlines; he simply approached his job with a solid sense of professionalism, and a dedication to serving the needs of the public.

Like his boss the Mayor, Commissioner Evans was never given to flash or dazzle, and instead relied upon his basic common sense and his overriding sense of decency to manage the police department.

When Evans first took the job nine years ago, a high ranking police commander told us how pleased he was to hear the news of the appointment, and he pledged then to postpone his own retirement for several years, just to have the opportunity to work for Evans and help him implement his plans for community policing. Looking back, it seems like a sound decision: Evans had a way to attract good, solid, professional police managers, and they helped create a good, solid department from where it matters most, from the top down.

We wish Paul Evans the best as he moves toward his November retirement, and on to his new post in London. And we also wish Mayor Menino good luck in his search for a replacement. Paul Evans leaves a strong legacy, and the city deserves a successor who will build on that strong sense of professionalism and decency.

-Ed Forry

The President's Quicksand

It is not at all clear what the future holds for George Bush's policies in Iraq. When the President first pushed for military action to oust Saddam Hussein, Americans were still reeling from the terrorist attacks from 9/11, and felt besieged and threatened at prospects for more strikes. And the Bush theory that Hussein posed a clear and imminent threat seemed plausible.

But today, more than a half year after the first strikes on Baghdad, the Bush policies in Iraq seem much less clear. More Americans have lost their lives in Iraq in the days since the war's official end than during the conflict; many citizen soldiers in the military reserves learned this week their active duty is to be extended for a full year, and the lives of their families will be further interrupted; and each days news reports bring word of more American deaths and casualties in that far-away country.

There is the growing sense that Mr. Bush's Iraq policy is sliding inexorably into a quagmire, not unlike the sad, sorry American missteps that led to the miseries of the Vietnam War. And the President's call on Congress this week to authorize an astonishing $87 billion for the continuing Iraq adventure is troublesome. As working-class Americans continue the struggle to work through bad economic times, it is hard to fathom how such a huge expense in foreign policy is going to work to the benefit of everyday American working families,

It appears now that Mr. Bush and his team badly misjudged the Iraqi situation. The country urgently needs a public policy debate. Simply put, where are we now, where are we going, and how are we going to get through this mess? -E.F.