Here is part of a speech Bush made today before the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. He lays out his thinking on what we are doing in Iraq. Check it out.
In 2005 — I want you to remember — in 2005, the Iraqi people held three national elections. Oh, it seems like a decade ago, doesn’t it? And yet in the march of history, it’s not all that long ago that the Iraqi people showed up at the election box, after having lived under the thumb of a brutal and murderous tyrant, to express their will about the future of their country. They chose a transitional government. They adopted the most progressive, democratic constitution in the Arab world. And then they elected a government underneath that constitution. Despite the endless threats from killers, nearly 12 million Iraqi citizens came out to vote, in a show of hope and solidarity that the United States should never forget.
A thinking enemy watched all this. See, there are some who can’t stand the thought of a free society emerging in their midst. And this enemy escalated attacks. Al Qaeda is very active in Iraq. And they and other Sunni extremists blew up one of the most sacred places in Shia Islam, the Golden Mosque of Samarra. Why did they do that? They did that to provoke retaliation. They did that to cause people to take up — arm themselves. And they succeeded. Radical Shia elements, some of whom have received support from Iran, increased their support of death squads, and then the situation began to escalate.
And so I had a choice to make. Last fall, I looked at the facts, I consulted with a lot of folks in Congress, and our military commanders. And my choice really boiled down to this: Do we withdraw our troops and let violence spiral out of control, let this young democracy fail, or do I send reinforcements to help the Iraqis quell the violence and secure their capital? In other words, do we give them breathing space to get on the path of reconciliation so that this young democracy could survive?
Well, I weighed the options, and the military commanders and I concluded that the consequences of withdrawal would be disastrous for the United States of America. And let me tell you why. If we were to step back from Baghdad before it was more secure, before the government could secure its own capital, it would leave a security vacuum. And into that vacuum could quickly come Sunni and Shia extremists, bolstered by outside forces. A contagion of violence could spill out across the country, and in time, the violence of these emboldened extremists could affect the entire region. The terrorists could emerge from chaos — see, they benefit when the situation is chaotic — with new safe havens to replace the one they had lost in Afghanistan.
There’s no doubt in my mind that their intention is to try to strike us again, and they need the resources and the safe haven to do so. If we were to abandon this young democracy to chaos, it would embolden these extremists. It would enable them to be able to recruit more. It would give them new resources from which to plot and plan. I believe the consequences of failure in Iraq affect the security of the United States of America, and that’s why I made the decision I made. (Applause.)
And so instead of retreating, we reinforced — troops led by a capable commander named General David Petraeus.
I don’t know what is more frightening…the prospect that Bush actually believes his own rhetoric or the prospect that he doesn’t. He is essentially saying, “I screwed things up so badly in Iraq that we cannot afford to leave.”
I keep saying that no country has ever launched a war of aggression, lost that war, and let the architects of the war stick around to deal with the aftermath. Bush seems to understand this. He knows his political survival depends on a continuation of the war in Iraq. Once we agree it is lost, we will also agree that Bush has no more utility and is, in fact, an insurmountable liability. The vote to end the war is also, although only implicitly, a vote to impeach the President and Vice-President. The two issues really are logically intertwined to such a degree that they will flow together, somewhat inextricably. Bush needs this war. As long as he has the war to cheerlead, he is relevant. Once the war is declared lost, he becomes pointless and belongs in the refuse of history.
The security vacuum he speaks of is real. And we cannot afford to have Bush and Cheney overseeing our withdrawal. No way.
My favorite line is:
Oh really? I think the 2 dead and 9 wounded in attacks in the Green Zone in the last three days might disagree about the security of the capital. If they can’t protect the Green Zone, the rest of Baghdad must be a shambles. And seeing as how Sunni and Shiite extremists are some of the most important leaders of this “young democracy” I think the future of liberal democracy in Iraq are somewhat screwed in the short term regardless of US troop presence.
On another note, why would Bush speak about foreign policy to the National Beef Association? I guess he’s guaranteed applause, as I understand it’s a fairly conservative body, it strikes me as odd though. There’s plenty to talk about that might be more pressing to the Cattlemen, things like BSE, agricultural subsidies, international trade regulation, etc.
Although, if this was 1984, there would be a nice flood of “where’s the beef” foreign policy jokes…
he did discuss those things earlier in the speech.
Ahhh, ok, thanks for the clarification.
C’mon.
Cattlemen are the most experienced people in the country when it comes to dealing with enormous quantities of bullshit.
It’s their job.
LMAO…I regret that I can only give you a 4 for that.
real disappearing act.
No news is good news, right?
By now the role of ‘special operations’ is surfacing somewhat. They were running the torture center blamed on the Iraqi police. Leadership in Iraq has been targeted for disposal. Teachers, doctors and other educated professionals have fled for their lives. Lies are the order of the day. Bullshit has been promoted on Iraqi media funded by the Pentagon. ( I think Konfused Iraqi Kid posted some hummers a while back )
I would like some reason to think that the Iraqis don’t know what they are talking about when they say Americans are making the situation worse. None comes immediately to mind.
Bush is very close to being the wild animal in the corner and he’ll probably lash out at anything (Iran). He’s really fearful of not having a war to use for justifying his actions. If he does involve us in Iran the rest of us have to wonder if we have enough military left to handle this next involvement. Israel must be quite concerned.
Slouching Toward Occupation at The Cunning Realist gives a very good take on why it is so important for Bush to do everything possible to maintain the “war paradigm”. This argument is what gives him his last best shot of relevance to his entire Presidency.
Excerpt from the post:
This is what Bush is fighting to reestablish through his speechifying like the one presented to the Cattlemen’s Association.
But I’m afraid, for Bush’s sake, that the American people have seen enough. There is very little argument today that the greatest recruitment tool for the terrorists has not been the talk of our departure or the debate in the halls of Congress, but the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
This is what the President is fighting. An almost worldwide recognition of what is actually happening in Iraq. Only the President and the 30% or so of this country who would willingly and unquestioningly follow his fools errand seem to still be swallowing the idea of wedging freedom and democracy into Iraq at the end of a gun.
This speech is the only arrow that the President has left in his quiver. He will be repeating it ad nauseum from now until November 2008. It has become a pathetic spectacle.