The Iraq Study Group calls for a phased withdrawal. The overhwelming majority of Americans realize that this war is unwinnable and we need to get out.
Bush’s response? Send in more troops.
The generals on the ground (the ones who Bush claims to be listening to) are against this idea. Colin Powell, his own former Secretary of State, says we’re losing, we need to draw down our forces, and that the Army is “almost broken” and no surge is sustainable. Most telling, every single one of the Joint Chiefs are against this plan.
But “I listen to the generals” Bush is forging ahead.
Even conservative hosts like Joe Scarborough are asking the question — “How can he be ignoring his own generals who are actually fighting this war”…and, most amazingly — “If Clinton had done this, wouldn’t we be considering Impeachment?” Watch the video here (Quicktime movie) — including another commentator who floats the idea that Bush is “delusional.”
Here’s what drifts through my head…. two scenarios, and I’m not sure which one is worse.
One, Bush *is* delusional and completely out of control. He’s not listening to anyone except the voices in his head, or his hand-picked cabal of NeoCons. More men and women are going to be fed into the meat grinder of Iraq because after 6 years of constant outrage (and consolidation of Executive power), nobody in this country has the will (or the power) to stop him.
OR
This is another brilliant Rove maneuver — The NeoCons know that Democrats are not going to be pursuing Impeachment, because of fears of it taking all of their energy, and possibly also causing a PR image backlash, which would hurt them in in the 2008 Presidential election. So Bush is under orders to force the issue — MAKE them Impeach, so that the Democrats can be painted as partisan and interested only in “payback” and the “politics of personal destruction.” Start a feeding frenzy which can be shown in the worst possible light.
As I said, I’m not sure which scenario is worse….because gods help us, I think that the second one would actually work on the American people.
The second one might work, but I doubt the neocons would actually try something like that. Their ideology is too wrapped up in authoritarianism… it wouldn’t occur to them to toss their Leader to the wolves for an indirect net gain.
…which is not to say that impeachment *wouldn’t* bite the Democrats in the ass (I hope it wouldn’t, but I don’t know). Just that I don’t think the neocons would do that *on purpose*.
dont forget the eventual push for the draft…just got to get the timing right to distract the dems flayling about trying to undo six years of mischief.
strange how no one is even mentioning haliburton or cheney’s gun misuse.
and of course the new orleans and afghanistan is stuck way in the back pages of the daily paper if at all.
sigh
“The thing about the Vietnam War that troubles me as I look back was it was a political war. We had politicians making military decisions, and it is lessons that any president must learn, and that is to the set the goal and the objective and allow the military to come up with the plans to achieve that objective. And those are essential lessons to be learned from the Vietnam War.”
– President George W. Bush
Meet The Press, 2/8/2004
The way your mind works scares me.
The fact that you stand a good chance of being right here in either case terrifies me.
I never thought I would be glad James Baker is around…