<GG> Daddy Bush spent a lifetime toadying around military/intelligence/party positions before stepping up to the plate on the coattails of Reagan. I never undersetimated him as far as his knowledge of how to run a war and the only letdown I got was the backdown from the Republican Guard and taking out Hussein. I think he and Powell share the overly cautious tag.
He was generally good about surrounding himself with competence, despite the glaring case of his Veep. And a study of Dubya long ago revealed that he has risen through life with considerable support from all Daddy's friends, so his appointments reflected that and didn't surprise me.
Initially, I compared the son to Eddie Haskell; even the goofy grin fit. These days, when I watch Dubya in action, I'm reminded of Chauncey, the gardener, in "Being There".... a lot can be said about being in the right place at the right time (with the right Supreme Court) if the folks around you do good work.
But I do recall an awful lot of handwringing early on in Afghanistan about "How do we do this one?" and they went with the only strategy available. A month into the war, there was little confidence being demonstrated, and after the North started falling, there was concern about the NA taking Kabul.
So it hardly seems like anything has followed anyone's script. The Pushme-Pullya beast of Powell/Wolfowitz ultimately provided the right mix, but I wouldn't be comfortable if either pulls policy alone.
I suspect a lot of intelligence has been gathered and internationally, arrests are gonna take out numerous cells that they've been listening to for weeks.
To me, this suggests the #1 concern is "What does UBL have on the front burner now?" and we are mopping up every trace cell we can locate, trying to keep that other shoe from dropping.
Nobody's happy the malignant leadership cell is out there metastisizing. While that continues, the Wolfowitz faction will likely hold sway, and I expect to see some real shows of strength emanating from Saudi Arabia/Kuwait/Egypt/Jordan, in more than one arena.
I'm looking for lightning strikes though, not massive US incursions, for the time being. Surprise strikes. If Iraq is a target, look for partioning. If Palestine must be handled, look for the Arab allies doing the grunt work.
Bush's fortunes rise and fall according to what UBL does. Cheney/Rumsfeld are proving adept at running this show, but that one rogue puppet probably keeps them all from sleeping well at night. |
