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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GROUND ZERO™ who wrote (756290)	12/19/2006 7:40:41 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

"except that it's easy to criticize the President with 20/20 hindsight, it's a very popular sport these days, but it accomplishes absolutely nothing..." If I were a 'Dem', and motivated only by an interest in narrow partisan gains, regardless of the potential harm that could be done to American national interests and the well-being of the nation... I'd be ECSTATIC at having Bush acting the way he currently is. (For, the longer he persists in his mind-numbingly ill-advised and counter-productive 'tactics' in Iraq, the greater the damage that he does to the G.O.P.'s prospects in 2008. Another year of this and the Dems could probably run Mickey Mouse as a candidate and still win the Presidency and increase their margins in the Senate, the House, and State Houses all over.) "No matter what, it's still far better that we engage the problem sooner than later...." Total agreement on that point. The question becomes though: What WORKS? What set of tactics has the best prospects for achieving American strategic interests in the world? (And there I'd argue that stepping back from the inter-Islamic religious war, and taking Uncle Sam's fingerprints off of the 'crime scene', then watching the Shiites and Sunnis have at it over the battleground of Iraq stands the very BEST CHANCE at neutering both sets of extremists... and ultimately creating the necessary conditions on the ground for the evolution of the entire region toward greater pluralism, Democracy, respect for moderation, and a long-delayed 'Islamic Reformation'.) While... having the U.S. 'attack Iran'... and wheel back-and-forth between attacking Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq on a day-to-day basis stands about the LEAST possible chance of achieving American strategic interests and would most likely only STRENGTHEN extremists and fundamentalists on BOTH SIDES of the Islamic divide, while producing unrelenting hatred against everything American for generations to come, and actually keeping extremists on top in the region. Hard to actually think of anything less likely to work....

To: GROUND ZERO™ who wrote (756290)	12/20/2006 11:17:28 AM
From: BEEF JERKEY	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

"except that it's easy to criticize the President with 20/20 hindsight" He's gotten everything wrong - mission accomplished, last gaspers, no WMD's, no link to 9-11, disbanding the military, de-bathification and a few more things I can't remember right now. Now for some 20-20 foresight. Bush looks like he is willing to further stumble by inflating ground forces - an idea opposed by the military experts. Bush is a clown for trying to force "victory". Victory is impossible. The middles east is full of people more interested in throwing sh$t at each than democracy or freedom. Bush simply doesn't have the brain horsepower to direct policy in the Middle East. I think he is more worried about how history will judge him than the expending of American lives or prestige - hence the "hail Mary" for victory. I suppose that’s what you get when you elect someone who could only manage a "c" average while being so well-connected.