George W. Bush is an asshole. He continues to use rhetoric that makes it nearly impossible to spin our failure in Iraq as anything less than a great victory for the jihadists.
Now the terrorists are testing our will and resolve in Iraq. If we fail that test, the consequences for the safety and security of the American people would be enormous. Our withdrawal from Iraq would allow the terrorists to claim an historic victory over the United States. It would leave our enemies emboldened and allow men like Zarqawi and bin Laden to dominate the Middle East and launch more attacks on America and other free nations. The battle lines are drawn, and there is no middle ground: either we defeat the terrorists and help the Iraqis build a working democracy, or the terrorists will impose their dark ideology on the Iraqi people and make that country a source of terror and instability to come for decades.
The only way the terrorists can win is if we lose our nerve and abandon the mission. For the security of the American people, that’s not going to happen on my watch. We’ll do our duty. We’ll defeat our enemies in Iraq and other fronts in the war on terror. We’ll lay the foundation of peace for our children and grandchildren.
Listen Bush: you have bankrupted the country. You have bankrupted the country and yet you still continue to pursue tax cuts. You have very little support for staying in Iraq and pretty soon Congress is going to pull the plug on your financing. And then when we pull out of Iraq there will be no way to spin it other than as “an historic victory over the United States.”
We saw how the jihadists reacted to their historic victory over the Soviet Union. It emboldened them and convinced them that Allah was on their side.
What you should be doing is defining down success. You should stop claiming that jihadists are defeating us and start claiming that the Iraqis simply don’t want us there. It’s actually closer to the truth than the bullshit you are spreading. Using this rhetoric makes your defeat, our defeat, worse than it has to be.
or maybe the terrorists were just waiting for us to elect a simple minded child man. Then they could manipulate said child man into an open ended occupation of a foreign country. Using this occupation to bleed our military and our treasury. These guys are deep thinkers no doubt.
Bush the Imbecile makes the absurd claim; “The terrorists concluded that we lacked the courage and character to defend ourselves, and so they attacked us.”
Earth to George! They attacked us with sucide killers, a simple fact that argues most strongly against the idiotic idea that they’d be at all concerned with whether we defended ourselves.
If they were willing to self-destruct in their attacks on us, why would they be worried about our courage and will to retaliate?
Well he is an asshole, but not for this reason.
He is playing a game of chicken. Except, unlike Rebel without a Cause, we’re in the car as it speeds towards the cliff.
Now the terrorists are testing our will and resolve in Iraq.
-GWB
–Boston Globe
Say what George? God, what an idiot. He is still spewing the fear factor. The boogie man will come and get us if we don’t stay and fight “them” over there. I have news for you George. We are less safe now than before 9/11. You have fucked up royaly George and it is time to throw in the towel.
It’s tripe. He’s tripe.
I’m for Bill Nye for president. (He’s on Larry King right now.)
I’m for Bill Nye for president. (He’s on Larry King right now.)
They had him on CNN shortly after Katrina and he was discussing the need for marshes, and explaining the toxic soup a bit.
It was kind of funny when they introduced him as “Bill Nye the Science Guy”. Almost like they didn’t want you to take him seriously…
Bush is beyond hope. But what kind of alternatives are the Dems presenting:
Because they don’t want to be associated with a bunch of aging hippies?
aging maybe, but we ain’t belly-up yet!
Using this rhetoric makes your defeat, our defeat, worse than it has to be.
You see, every day that another American realizes we are losing in Iraq… That means that I am winning. Only bush, the other chickenhawk warmongers, and their supporters are losing, BUT I AM WINNING!
Why? Because we are one day closer to getting the soldiers back home.
His polls are down and people are fed up with out troops dying for no reason.
He is doing this to downplay the enormous numbers we will see this weekend. Over a million people world wide protested against this war when it started. I predict that the numbers in DC and related cities will be very high (hundreds of thousands). Back when millions protested across the globe, he stated that he did not listen to mere people, but that he would do what he thought best for his country. Now, he is having to face it again. Millions hate him and thousands have stopped supporting his illegal war. Yet, by spinning it like we will lose if we pull out now, he is hoping to stop the bleeding of his faithful. But it does not matter if we pull out now or later, we have lost the country and we cannot win no matter what.
That he is talking such shit shows he is scared.
There are indeed times when the situation demands that one stand firm and not back down, or your enemies will perceive you as weak, and know they can get away with whatever they want. This afternoon in the Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing would have been one of those times… next week on the Senate floor will be one of those times, when Senate Democrats can either send a strong message as to what is not acceptable behavior (refusing to provide requested documentation, or avoiding answering questions from Senators in an attempt to hide beliefs that might prevent an easy confirmation), or prove themselves once again ineffectual at mounting any opposition to the neocons’ agenda, thus inviting even worse candidates (and worse treatment) further down the line.
Iraq, however, is not — and never was — that kind of situation. The whole damned “war on terror” is not, and never was, that kind of situation — because nothing the terrorists by themselves could do could truly threaten or limit freedom in this country.
The time to stand firm and not back down (so as not to invite attack because you’re perceived as weak) depends on certain mitigating factors. By definition, this is the strategy of the underdog — the one who plausibly and logically could be perceived as weak unless one stands firm and proves otherwise. You cannot plausibly use “perceived weakness” as a defense when it’s pretty obvious to anyone around you that you’re not the underdog, you’re the biggest and meanest kid on the playground.
If the Democrats, who are outnumbered and lack any real power or authority in the Senate, stand firm on issues in opposition to the Republicans, then they are overcoming a perceived weakness. (And if they cave in, then the Republicans will rightfully perceive them as weak, and being bullies themselves, push even harder — in this situation, the logic Bush offers is exactly right, from the minority party’s point of view).
But the US — with the most powerful military machine and high-tech weapons of war, etc. in the world — sounds pretty ridiculous talking like we’re the underdog here. If we withdraw now, will the insurgents consider it a victory over a much more powerful enemy? Certainly, and they’ll be absolutely right. But will withdrawal from Iraq actually put us here at home at greater risk from “terrorist” attacks? I doubt it, because let’s face it, it’s not our military might in Iraq that’s preventing those attacks now.
Will withdrawal from Iraq make other countries not on good terms with the US to see us as weak and vulnerable? No, not really — because the deteriorating relationships we have with other nations in the world aren’t due to anyone perceiving us as “weak” or “lacking in resolve” — it’s more due to them perceiving us as an arrogant, self-righteous, avaricious, self-centered bully. And that describes Bush and his rhetoric right down to a “T”….
Fighting them over there, has weakened us over here. Look at our infrastructure, apparently in the process of crumbling due to neglect. Look at our pathetic response to Katrina. What we needed in New Orleans was the La. National Guard. We all know where many of them are. Look at our national Budget: out of control with Iraq and Katrina, and now Rita! Yet he still insists that we don’t need to reinstate his tax cuts on the wealthy.
Stories in the press yesterday suggest he may be off the wagon again! The world watches us try to get an evacuation of Greater Houston right, and yesterday seemed to be downright chaotic. Hopefully, today will be a better day for the people in Rita’s path.
“Conservatives” criticize those heading for DC. this weekend, claiming bad timing. What they don’t get is that we don’t have a lot of time to play with here. The time to start turning things around was over four years ago. I think the timing for DC. is perfect. While we are looking at our domestic woes, we need to be reminded what a mess this man has put our nation in due to his expensive, ill-conceived “little” war.
We need to exit Iraq, in the most expedient way. Let the civil war that is going on over there take it’s course, and deal with the consequences as best we can.
I’m convinced that we cannot “Nation Build” in an area where no “Nation” exists. I think we have enough “Nation Rebuilding” to take care of over here to keep us busy for quite a while.
Were the vehicles the LA National Guard has that can operate in several feet of water. They’re all over in Iraq, riding around the desert, because they’re the only large-size vehicles the LANG has.
“Now the terrorists are testing our will and resolve in Iraq.”
You know you’re stuck in a hopeless battle you simply want to avoid losing so you can leave office and hand the mess to your successor, and be able to proclaim after the inevitable loss “no shameful defeats on my watch!”