Ridgeway: George Bush, Meet Reality

James Ridgeway Village Voice 11/30

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Bush's speech this morning at the Naval Academy is a reflection of his stubborn, narrow-vision approach to governing. More and more, what he says is devoid of reality. To listen to Bush is to enter a dreamworld.

Faced with incontrovertible facts of increasing costs ($6 billion a month), soldier deaths day after day (2,100), growing disenchantment in Congress (The Senate is demanding periodic reports on how the war is faring), the failure of the Iraqi security forces to protect the country, all signs of a coming defeat, he keeps on with pledges of total victory. He won't set "artificial deadlines" for withdrawal. "No war has ever been won on a timetable - and neither will this one," the National Strategy for Victory in Iraq says.

"These decisions about troop levels will be driven by the conditions on the ground in Iraq and the good judgment of our commanders, not by artificial timetables set by politicians in Washington," Bush said in his followup address.

Bush's swaggering style reinforces his image and that of the country of being a bully and, worse, a loser.

http://villagevoice.com/news/0549,ridgeway,70575,2.html


Q) How do you lose a war to a country with no real government or military?

A) Put George W. Bush in charge.

...no truer words have ever been said. Of course, we've known that for quite a while. Also jives with Seymour Hersh's article in the New Yorker. Bush is devoid of reality.

In WW2, we knew victory was achieved when the Germans and Japanese signed surrender documents.

So how do we know when the WOT is won? Who's going to surrender to us? On behalf of whom?

How do we know when we've accomplished our goals in Iraq?

(Answer: We will have achieved our goals in Iraq as soon as the GOP sees that they're going to lose power if we don't pull out immediately. At which time, we will "cut and run" just like we did in VietNam.)

That's how the US is. We start fights we can't win and then we quit, leaving our "allies" to the mercy of our "enemies."

I wish that wasn't true, but it is.

we are not at WAR in IRAQ. We are the OCCUPYING POWER. It is up to us to provide safety and security for the Iraq people. The Iraqi people need electric and water not bombing runs and armed troops. You can't have a democracy in a military state.