And now a review of that scintillating message of our beloved President last evening:
IRAQ
A Wasted Opportunity
In a primetime address to the nation on Iraq last night, Bush wasted a precious
opportunity to level with the American public about the struggle we face ahead
of us in Iraq, the mistakes that have been made, and the need to change course.
Instead, we heard a president who had only two objectives on his mind: 1) wrap
9-11 and Iraq together to help bolster his public approval and support for the
war; and 2) stubbornly refuse to change course. As the New York Times noted in
an editorial today, Bush " raise[d] the bloody flag of 9/11 over and over again
(http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/29/opinion/29wed1.html) to justify a war in a
country that had nothing whatsoever to do with the terrorist attacks." The
speech " offered few new ideas for dealing with an insurgency that has claimed
more than 1,700 American lives
(http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/nation/12011986.htm) " and "
rejected any change in course, ruling out either a deadline for troop
withdrawals or an increase in troop levels.
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/28/AR2005062801532.html)
"
HOW BUSH TURNED IRAQ INTO A TERRORIST TRAINING GROUND: The thrust of President
Bush's address last night was that the Iraq war has now become the " latest
battlefield (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/06/20050628-7.html) "
in the war on terror, and that we must "defeat [the terrorists] abroad before
they attack us at home." There is little doubt, as a new CIA report concludes
(http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/22/international/middleeast/22intel.html?) and
director Porter Goss said previously
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28876-2005Feb16.html) , that
Iraq has become the new Afghanistan -- the training ground for the next
generation of insurgent fighters. But Iraq certainly wasn't this type of
breeding ground before the war. In fact, one rationale Bush proffered for the
war was to prevent Iraq from becoming " a training ground
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/11/20021104-9.html) " for
terrorists. Bush said in November 2002: "Imagine a terrorist network with Iraq
as an arsenal and as a training ground..." We don't have to imagine anymore;
Bush's war has made it a reality due to the whole host of mistakes that were
made in the post-war phase (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5835941/) .
THE 9-11 STRATEGY: Last night, President Bush called on Americans to remember "
the lessons of September 11th
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/28/AR2005062801532.html)
." Coming on the heels of Karl Rove's politicization of the 9-11 attacks
(http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8324598/) , it seems clear the White House has turned
to the aid of that tragic day to help prop up a reeling president. In a speech
littered with references to 9-11
(http://thinkprogress.org/2005/06/28/bush-iraq-speech-by-the-numbers/) , Bush
circumvented the real problems facing U.S. forces in Iraq by attempting to
inspire imagery of another attack on our homeland. The Washington Post helped
propagate Bush's deception: "[C]ritics long have accused Bush of falsely drawing
a connection between Iraq and Sept. 11 as a way to justify the original decision
to launch the war in Iraq. That was not the point Bush made last night.
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/28/AR2005062801530.html)
" Oh really? Here's what Bush said last night
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/06/20050628-7.html) : "The troops
here and across the world are fighting a global war on terror. The war reached
our shores on September the 11th, 2001." The argument that we had to go to war
in Iraq because we were attacked on 9-11 is blatantly false. And Bush knows it
-- he previously said he " couldn't make that claim
(http://thinkprogress.org/2005/06/29/the-two-faces-of-george/) " that Iraq was
connected to 9-11 and that he had " no evidence
(http://thinkprogress.org/2005/06/18/bush-still-perpetrating-iraq9-11-myth/) "
that Saddam was connected to 9-11. Yet, it appears that not everyone has caught
on to the deception.
BUSH FAILED TO BE CANDID ABOUT THE REAL PROBLEMS: As the daily toll of America's
sacrifice in lives and dollars in Iraq continues to increase, Bush did little
last night to allay the fears of those who see no end in sight
(http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aDTgo9UeAZ4I) . Moreover,
he gave little impression that he understands the nature of the insurgency
raging in Iraq. Bush declined to weigh in on the dispute between Rumsfeld and
Cheney about whether the insurgency is in its " last throes
(http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/30/cheney.iraq/) " or will last another decade
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5101278,00.html) . He
described the insurgents as filled with " blind hatred
(http://thinkprogress.org/2005/06/28/bush-misleads-about-nature-of-insurgency/)
" yet he did not comment on Rumsfeld's confirmation that the U.S. is now
negotiating with the those insurgents
(http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050627/ap_on_re_eu/britain_iraq_12)
. Bush failed to admit any mistakes that have been made (and thus give any
indication that he has corrected course), and he failed to explain any new
strategy for winning the hearts and minds of Iraqis, defeating the terrorist
insurgents, reconstructing Iraq, and bringing our troops home.
BUSH RECYCLED OLD IDEAS AS "NEW": Bush claimed last night to offer " three new
steps (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/06/20050628-7.html) " which
weren't new at all. His supposed three new ideas were to "partner coalition
units with Iraqi units," embed "transition teams" inside Iraqi units (if you
don't know the difference between those two, you're not alone), and third, work
with the Iraqi Ministries of Interior and Defense to "coordinate anti-terrorism
operations" (which is really newsworthy only because the coordination apparently
wasn't taking place before). In May 2004, Bush delivered a much-hyped speech at
the Army War College that was supposed to outline " specific steps
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/05/20040524-3.html) " for
achieving our goals in Iraq. In that address, he said we were working with Iraqi
forces to establish both a "chain of command" and an improved "vetting and
training (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/05/20040524-10.html) "
process. Bush also said in that May 2004 speech that " America and other
countries will continue to provide technical experts to help Iraq's ministries
of government (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/05/20040524-10.html)
." The media wasn't fooled into thinking that Bush was offering anything new
last night. The New York Times reported, Bush "offer[ed] no new strategies in a
war that has now stretched for 25 months
(http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/29/politics/29prexy.html) ," and he delivered
what was "in essence, a repeat of a speech he delivered 13 months ago
(http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/29/politics/29assess.html?hp&ex=1120104000&en=75300a78fe3e891f&ei=5094&partner=homepage)
...during an appearance at the Army War College." |
