How badly did Bush's speech suck?
The Daily News's Michael Kramer, as late as last week, was defending the war
Listening to the Bush administration defend its Iraq policy is like listening to an insurance agent remind you about the fine print - after the accident. All the problems, all the caveats, all the potential downside was there for all to see from the start.
This insulting, legalistic defense of a policy gone astray is becoming tiresome. It's true that before the war began, the President made a point of saying that securing a stable and democratic Iraq would take time and effort and wouldn't be easy.
.....................
After Saddam's regime was gone, the Iraqi people would welcome our troops as liberators, security would involve little more than directing traffic, businesses would thrive in a free market, basic services would be restored swiftly, the march to democracy would be inexorable.
That wasn't the best-case scenario. It was the only scenario. No one inside the administration ever predicted anything remotely resembling the current mess.
No. Those who did were fired or humiliated in public.
We don't need to be told how tough it is - and we surely don't need to be told that we were told all along that it would be tough. Rather, we need to hear that pacifying Iraq is proving a lot tougher than anyone expected - so tough that things are going to have to change.
....... The guerrilla resistance is doing well precisely because it can blend into villages and cities without fear of being ratted out to U.S. forces. Increasingly, it seems that the opposition to America in Iraq is broad-based, a lot like the opposition to Israel among Palestinians on the West Bank and in Gaza.
I guess he's gotten around to reading the real estimates about rebuilding Iraq.
Bush's speech yesterday may have been the worst of his career. It certainly pissed off a bunch of people.
But Bush isn't going to change his mind. Because that means he's a failure and he cannot fail again. It's a psychological/unresolved daddy thing. So Americans will die so GW can gain the respect of his father.
posted by Steve @ 6:47:00 PM
