The more George talks, the more confused I get. Last week he vetoed the plan to begin withdrawing troops, saying, "It makes no sense to tell the enemy when you plan to start withdrawing. ... All the terrorists would have to do is mark their calendars and gather their strength."
There are now 185 violent attacks daily in Iraq. The insurgents live in Iraq. What does he think would happen if they knew that troops were withdrawing in 4 months? Stop attacking for four months (which in itself would be a great gift to the Iraqi people)? Or up the attacks to 1,850 once American troops left? Leave their homes? Really, how different could it be? It is possible that the country would descend into full scale civil war once we've left; it's also possible that, once foreign occupation troops are gone, the violence drops off. In either case, it's not as though things are improving as we stay. It's as if he wants to keep occupation troops in Vietnam until all the Vietnamese "go home" and stop attacking us. These Iraqi's live in Iraq! It is not as though uncertainty about the date of our withdrawal is going to make them weary of living in the country and move back to Switzerland to enjoy snow and chocolates.
Bush insisted that "setting a timeline for withdrawal is setting a date for failure." And maybe that's the real point. As long as he doesn't pull out troops, he can continue to believe that he hasn't yet failed. And it may well be true that if only we kept troops in Iraq for enough generations, the violence would die down. Bush is like a kid who wants to have a school year in which to take his SAT. If he has unlimited funds and unlimited time, he may well get this right. But he doesn't.
Bush's refusal to admit failure may turn out to be his biggest in a string of failures in the Middle East. At this point, George is in so far in over his head he doesn't even realize that he's in over his head.
R World (Ron Davison muses aloud)
Amen, he's just biding time in order to will this debacle to the poor sot who replaces him.
ReplyDeleteIt's so juvenile. I can almost hear him saying to all his critics, with his fingers in his ears while sticking out his tongue, "I know you are but what am I?" He's such an embarrassment.
I feel sorry for Bush. I see some of the headlines coming out of there, and how little respect these extremists have for their own children, and I am not sure how I'd handle it myself.
ReplyDeletecce,
ReplyDeleteI have to imagine that George has got a calendar in which he's ticking off the days until he's out and handing this off to someone else.
Chrlane,
I do agree that the problem George faces is both hard and the solution is not obvious. I'd also agree that he's simply made it even harder to deal with.
I wish a news reporter would stand up in the next news conference and ask George W., "Do you still think that was God who told you to invade Iraq?"
ReplyDeleteI feel sorry for the guy also. He is torn between what he believes is right and what others believe is right.
ReplyDeleteSucks to be him.
Sure makes my daily life seem a lot less stressful, eh? I don't have 3/4 of the world tell me I suck and begging for my demise!
Life's pretty good for ol Damon! :)
Thomas,
ReplyDeleteYou almost wonder if those press conferences are edited because questions like that simply don't get asked. Odd.
Damon sings, humming along, "And a beautiful woman told me she loved me and life is more than pretty good."