Man of Conviction? Just convict him.

I read with great interest this morning the front page story about Bush wanting to turn over control of Iraq sooner than...uh...planned? I hesitate to use the word planned, because it naturally assumes some sort of previous planning. But at least Bush is planning now, right?

Not exactly.

George Bush and his aides continue to plan all right, but their planning has nothing to do with the safety and security of the people of Iraq OR the United States. It has everything to do with the safety and security of the people of the Bush Administration.

Am I being just another Bush hater? Sure I am. But I am in good company, and this actually has nothing to do with my previous disdain for the occupying force barricaded on Pennsylvania Avenue. This is fresh, new disdain, based on Mr. Bush's sudden urge to "plan" based upon all this new CIA evidence.

Wha? Suddenly the CIA is a paragon of truth for Mr. Bush? Or is this paragraph, from a combined wire service story in today's paper, more likely the reason for W's foreign policy epiphany; "Under the plan, the U.S.-led occupation might end control over Iraq before the 2004 presidential election."

Yes friends, we are witnessing not bold new thinking...this is the exact same thinking that got us into this mess, now just flip-flopped back on us in a seriously short-sighted attempt to pander as much as humanly possibly to the American electorate.

Suddenly, the long hard slog is gonna be over -- before the election.

We'll get treated to lots more teevee homecomings (maybe with a "Mission: What Mission?" banner draped across something other than a flight deck) -- before the election.

Bush will claim some sort of "victory" out of this fiasco, with a big ceremony wherein he declares Iraq officially "liberated" -- before the election.

Make no mistake; this is the most disgusting, cynical act I've seen in months, from the most disgusting, cynical president ever to soil the White House.

So, it is time to call a spade a spade...

Bush is beating feet. He is retreating. BUSH HAS BEEN BEATEN and he is attempting to turn it into yet another campaign event. It is absolutely disgraceful.

Disgraceful.

This latest foreign policy debacle must be a particularly bitter pill for the parents of the hundreds of dead American soldiers, and the thousands upon thousands of those left crippled and maimed by the PNAC power grab. NOW what was the blood of their kids spilled for? Just to leave and let the whole place further decend into a lawless hell?

Or has the decent happened already, so we might as well leave?

I don't profess easy answers on this. The opportunity for Bush to exercise any of his "easiest" options are long since past. He has wacked the hornets nest with a vengeance, and now the vengeance belongs to the hornets.

To those whose favorite politicization of the events is squawking "Well, what is the democrats' plan? They don't have a plan, they never have a plan, they just bitch and moan!" I freely admit I have no plan, though I bet if I spent a day or two working on one I could come up with something at least as realistic as anything the White House has proposed.

But you know what? I am not the president. And, if anyone had listened to me in the first place, no plan would be required, because we would not be at war. I have been steadfastly consistent on this, from day one.

Considering the vast sums of money the Bush and Cheney families will realize from their little adventure, I don't believe it is up to ME to have a plan, it is up to those business consultants occupying the Oval Office.

But disgracing America with another Viet Nam style defeat simply to boost poll numbers prior to the election, is nothing short of dispicable, and a painful slap to those who gave their lives for this completely predictable folly.

And in my opinion, sacrifing national security for votes is nothing short of treasonous. And very, very typical.

'Hate' is too mild a word for what I feel for the members of the Bush administration. There are no words in the English or even human language to describe how utterly disgusted and sickened I am by Bush and all that he represents. The best description might be righteous contempt to the bottom of my soul for anyone who would use human beings as fodder in order to secure their power. Their only plan is to stay in power and rape the world for their own personal gain--nothing else. I don't care if they come back in the next life as the most abused human beings on the planet. That concept of 'karma' has never made sense to me. I want justice now.

But you left out the most important element: profits. Before declaring victory and pulling some troops out for their televised hero parades, Bush and company must first spend all the $87bn on their friends, get another spending bill passed (quietly this time; going on national TV and announcing it didn't go over so well) so they can drain as much as possible out of the national treasury for their friends and supporters just in case he's not able to rig the election, then get conservative US corporations to buy all the Iraqi corporations and resources at rock-bottom prices (this has already been approved by Bremer), and set up a provisional government with some serious military protection.

As soon as the "war" began, I thought it was certain that the majority of troops would be leaving no later than April '04.
(How long did it take to "win" in Afghanistan, how is Iraq any different?)

That way * has time to "help the ecomonmy look good" for a while.

Any Democratic candidate that thinks the issues are going to be "war and the economy" will hardly be seeing good ratings comes next fall.

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