Bush's problems in Iraq are piling up

AP , WASHINGTON
Thursday, Apr 08, 2004,Page 6

President George W. Bush's Iraq problems are piling up as violence spreads, US casualties rise and his poll numbers fall at home.

The president says he is determined to hand over political power to Iraqis by June 30, but no one knows who's going to take over in the growing chaos.

Each day brings more bad news and graphic pictures of fiery clashes that raise doubts about Bush's strategy, even among some Republican allies.

March was the second deadliest month for American forces in Iraq since Bush declared an end to major combat, and April is off to a bloody start with the heaviest fighting since the war that drove Saddam Hussein from power a year ago.

Americans accustomed to reading about attacks by Sunni insurgents in Iraq now see US soldiers facing a new wave of violence from a Shiite uprising encouraged by the militant Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The escalation of fighting across two fronts conflicts with Bush's oft-repeated claims of progress.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/04/08/2003135833

I just smashed my head on the desk when I read the following Bush quote in the linked article: "These people hate freedom. And we love freedom. And that's where the clash occurs."

What is this from? "Dick and Jane Tales of Geopolitics"? "The Idiot's Guide to Middle East De-Stabilization? "The Hardy Boys and the Mystery of the Lost WMDs"? "Where's Waldo bin Laden"?

I can just see their little bobble heads nodding up and down and around. The saying goes "not all conservatives are stupid but all stupid people are conservative".
I've said it before, and I'll say it again (but not in front of my wife, who will scream if she hears it again), I can't wait until the grownups are back in charge.

They encouraged the idea that simplistic platitudes can pass for wisdom and understanding.

You know who you are. Admit it, buying that movie ticket was a down payment on a vote for Dubya ...