Thursday, December 28, 2006
Iraq remains a GOP anchor...
With his approval rating circling the drain at around 30%, Bush continues to push the "surge" talk as part of his "New Way Forward" for winning the war in Iraq. The problem with this idea is adding troops to a civil war isn't a surge, it's an escalation. In addition virtually every military expert worth their salt has already weighed in on the fact that it won't make much real difference in the outcome. At this point only the Iraqis can decide the future of Iraq. And yet there is Bush in full on reality denial mode at a press conference last week:
"I want the enemy to understand that this is a tough task, but they can't run us out of the Middle East, that they can't intimidate America. They think they can. They think it's just a matter of time before America grows weary and leaves, abandons the people of Iraq, for example. And that's not going to happen."
Guess what Georgie? It's already happened. The American people are tired of your misadventure and are ready to throw in the towel. And all of your rah rah, I'm rubber, you're glue rhetoric isn't going to change reality. And even Republicans are starting to back away realizing that this is a course destined for electoral failure.
One who hasn't though is John McCain, he's supported the Surge idea and has been one of its biggest advocates. I have to wonder though if he floated the idea thinking that in this climate a surge couldn't be taken seriously, and to separate himself from the Murtha crowd in advance of 08. If a surge didnt happen (Dems/Bush put a stop to it) and chaos ensued, he could claim to be the guy that had the different ideas going into 08, and trumpet how the country should have chosen his path to victory. Apparently he didn't account for the narcissism of this administration in its desire to win an unwinnable war and actually launch a surge with yet more chaos to follow. Now he could end up going from presumptive frontrunner, to being the guy who HAD the bad idea that made Iraq even more of a disaster. Nice work John.
"I want the enemy to understand that this is a tough task, but they can't run us out of the Middle East, that they can't intimidate America. They think they can. They think it's just a matter of time before America grows weary and leaves, abandons the people of Iraq, for example. And that's not going to happen."
Guess what Georgie? It's already happened. The American people are tired of your misadventure and are ready to throw in the towel. And all of your rah rah, I'm rubber, you're glue rhetoric isn't going to change reality. And even Republicans are starting to back away realizing that this is a course destined for electoral failure.
One who hasn't though is John McCain, he's supported the Surge idea and has been one of its biggest advocates. I have to wonder though if he floated the idea thinking that in this climate a surge couldn't be taken seriously, and to separate himself from the Murtha crowd in advance of 08. If a surge didnt happen (Dems/Bush put a stop to it) and chaos ensued, he could claim to be the guy that had the different ideas going into 08, and trumpet how the country should have chosen his path to victory. Apparently he didn't account for the narcissism of this administration in its desire to win an unwinnable war and actually launch a surge with yet more chaos to follow. Now he could end up going from presumptive frontrunner, to being the guy who HAD the bad idea that made Iraq even more of a disaster. Nice work John.
