The Incompetence Shuffle
18 March 2006 4:09 pm by Taylor Marsh
The Incompetence Shuffle
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… … On the eve of the third anniversary of the
Iraq invasion, President Bush today promised to “finish the mission”
with total victory, urging the American public to remain steadfast but offering
no indication when victory might be achieved.“More fighting and sacrifice will be required,”
Bush said in his weekly radio address. “For some, the temptation to retreat
and abandon our commitments is strong. Yet there is no peace, there's no honor
and there's no security in retreat. So America will not abandon Iraq
to the terrorists who want to attack us again.“(snip)
“These past three years have tested our resolve,”
Bush said. “The enemy has proved brutal and relentless . . . and our
troops have shown magnificent courage and made tremendous sacrifices”
which, along with Iraqi sacrifices, had given Iraq a “historic opportunity”
to rebuild itself.“The security of our country is directly
linked to the liberty of the Iraqi people,” Bush said. “We will
settle for nothing less than complete victory.”
Bush:
'Fighting and Sacrifice' Needed
Could our president be more out of touch?
But if you think about it, it explains so much.
If Bush believes we are fighting terrorists in Iraq today, we
really are truly sunk. The battles being waged in Iraq no doubt include terrorist
elements, including Zarqawi, but the bulk of the battles are between Iraqis,
with tribes, factions and religious groups fighting against one another, ancient
battles of deep resentment bubbling up in the free air of a country that we
cracked apart through preemption, three years ago come Monday.
We came in, we bombed Baghdad, we captured Saddam. Now what?
Three years into the
Iraq war, President Bush is asking for sacrifice. He challenges us to steel
our resolve. Then he does the unimaginable, because it is so unintelligible.
President Bush dares to tie the Iraqi people's liberty to our security.
Saddam is gone. The Iraqi people are free. Let's call it victory
and let the Iraqis figure it out on their own. Unless you think there's more
that we can do.
The troops can't get between rival factions fighting for turf.
They've already become beat cops in a Middle Eastern West Side Story. Not a
pretty picture any way you look at it.
In the face of staggering incompetence, year after year after
year, George W. Bush still doesn't know what's going on down on the ground in
Iraq. So what he's launching is a massive p.r. campaign, complete with Operation
Swarmer, and more vague calls for “victory,” without providing what
it looks like beyond Saddam being gone and the Iraqi people being free.
Calls for victory do not constitute a plan forward.
Asking for a plan forward does not constitute retreat.
And again, last time I looked the Iraqi people did have their
liberty, with Saddam no longer a threat.
Is Bush now saying America is secure? Now that would be laughable,
unimaginable.
No, instead President Bush is saying that terrorists in Iraq want
to hit us again, once again doing the Terror Guy limbo, trying to weave Iraq, terrorists, 9/11 all together in a “stay the course” disco romp. Terrorists do want to hit us again and by staying in Iraq they're
doing just that. Hitting brand American by lessening our crediblity, hitting us by weakening
our military force structure, not to mention our prestige around the world and that's just the short hand version for a lazy Saturday.
The Iraqi people are free, have voted and can now choose the path
of their own country. The parliament was sworn in and instead of choosing to move forward, they chose to disagree and decide later. We can't do anything about that, because we can't make them want to move forward. Saddam is on trial. What else is there left for us to
do? The rest is up to the Iraqis.
The next “soccer mom”?
The newly announced Voters for Peace is seeking five
million signatures by November on a petition that reads: “I will not
vote for or support any candidate for president or Congress who does not make
a speedy end to the war in Iraq, and preventing any future war of aggression,
a public position in his or her campaign.”A Fox News poll last week suggested that the war will
be a key voting issue this year. When voters were asked what issue would determine
who they supported for Congress, Iraq ranked second, just behind the category
of spending and taxes.Nonetheless, anti-war organizers have expressed frustration
at what they describe as a disconnect between public sentiments and continued
support for the war in Congress.
Polls
show public's dwindling support for war
