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Bush will listen to the Generals on the ground in Iraq, well sort of...
Hmmm, let's take a trip down memory lane:
A year ago January:
| quote: | As the Iraqis are able to take more of the fight to the enemy, our commanders on the ground will be able to make a different assessment about the troop strength. And I'm going to continue to rely upon those commanders, such as General Casey, who is doing a fabulous job and whose judgment I trust, and that will determine -- his recommendations will determine the number of troops we have on the ground in Iraq.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/rele...1/20060101.html |
Last February:
| quote: | So I will make my decisions based upon what these commanders tell me...And if they say these Iraqis are capable of taking the fight, they're there firsthand to tell me that, and then we'll reduce our troops based upon their recommendation, not based upon the politics in Washington, D.C.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/rele...20060201-5.html |
March:
| quote: | And my decisions on troop levels will be made based upon the conditions on the ground, and the recommendations of our military commanders -- not artificial timetables set by politicians here in Washington, D.C.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/rele...20060313-3.html |
October:
So it's clear he trusts what the commanders and generals on the ground have to say, right?
| quote: | Bush has traditionally paid public deference to the generals, saying any decisions on moving U.S. forces in the region would depend on their views. At a Chicago news conference in July, for instance, Bush said he would yield to Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Iraq commander.
"General Casey will make the decisions as to how many troops we have there," Bush said, adding: "He'll decide how best to achieve victory and the troop levels necessary to do so. I've spent a lot of time talking to him about troop levels. And I've told him this: I said, 'You decide, General.' "
By yesterday, however, Bush indicated that he will not necessarily let military leaders decide, ducking a question about whether he would overrule them. "The opinion of my commanders is very important," he said. "They are bright, capable, smart people whose opinion matters to me a lot." He added: "I agree with them that there's got to be a specific mission that can be accomplished with the addition of more troops before I agree on that strategy."
A senior aide said later that Bush would not let the military decide the matter. "He's never left the decision to commanders," said the aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so Bush's comments would be the only ones on the record. "He is the commander in chief. But he has said he will listen to those commanders when making these decisions. That hasn't changed."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...2000308_pf.html |
Right?
Uhh, hello?
Even Scarborough, one of Bush's most ardent supporters of this war is starting to get happy feet:
| quote: | SCARBOROUGH: And Michael, as long as he said that—exactly. As long as he said that, it didn‘t matter that only 12 percent of Americans support this president‘s effort to send more troops to Iraq. But when all of his generals abandon him, when the Joint Chiefs abandon him, the admirals abandon him, when John Abizaid abandons him, when Colin Powell abandons him, everybody abandons him, he‘s standing alone! He just doesn‘t seem to have any credibility. And this is extraordinarily disturbing to me, as a guy who supported this war and supported this president twice.
CROWLEY: No, there‘s something almost kind of alarming about it. I mean, he‘s been telling us the whole time, These guys know what‘s best, I take their lead. And they‘re saying, This is not—not uniformly, but many of them, many of the senior guys, the smartest guys, Abizaid, people with a lot of credibility, are saying this is not the way to go, and it looks likes he‘s not going to listen to them. And there‘s something quite alarming about that.
.....MIKE BARNICLE, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think, Joe, that more Americans ought to be truly depressed by what they saw today on TV, the latest press conference. We have a president of the United States who is isolated. He‘s delusional. He is stubborn. He has had one intervention that clearly didn‘t work, the Baker-Hamilton report. He is clearly in need of another intervention. [snip]
BARNICLE: You‘re going to get more Americans both killed and captured. And the only services that we will have ended up improving in Baghdad are funeral services.
.....CROWLEY: Yes. I mean, you know, it‘s—now he finally comes around, but it‘s too late. And look, unfortunately, it‘s a tragedy of this administration, but they‘re just—you get the feeling that the guy lives in a little bit of a bubble. He‘s too slow to realize the realities on the ground. He buys into his own rhetoric, which is just too idealistic and too out of touch with what‘s happening, and he‘s just too slow to respond. So now he‘s finally coming around, and it‘s too late. And it‘s very sad.
And again, there‘s just something unnerving. I didn‘t like his answer to that question about it being a "dangerous hypothetical," that we were treading into dangerous territory. It‘s just a very sensitive, scary subject when you start talking about the commander-in-chief and the generals being in conflict. And I have to say, it kind of gives me the heebee-jeebees.
SCARBOROUGH: And Again, I think you‘re being—I think you‘re being very cautious in the language you‘re using. I think this is very frightening, again, and I‘m speaking as a guy who supported this war from the very beginning and supported this president twice.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16313163/ |
Delusional has a nice, downright fucking scary ring to it, doesn't it? But seriously, is Bush becoming fucking delusional here? What voices are those in his head? He's obviously not listening to the public on this one, because support for more troops is something like 8-16% depending on the polls you read, and he's obviously not giving too many shits about the commanders on the ground.
Hmmm, who else could be whistling dixie in his ear? Who has been whistlin' dixie in his ear all along? A real mystery, to be certain.....
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Whence September dusk grows crisper still,
with leaves all crimson conquered,
I yearn to shout,
and dance about,
and stick pickles in my honker...
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