"A huge W supporter, I keep telling myself the President has a face card down and isn't showing it yet."
You are a victim of Freeprism. Its a disease where a group of conservative, frustrated, former 'Risk' players congregate and believe that good will come in various forms, i.e. Rovisms. Any setback is seen as a well-orchestrated, three-dimensional Spock chessboard strategy. It usually takes a failed election to subside some of the symptoms...momentarily.
The ultimate cure is to have candidates who offer to resign if they don't do as they say, on threat of withholding donations.
I use to be a huge W supporter. Much of that ended during the last year. Iraq is turning into a disaster. Iran is getting the bomb. Bush doesn't seem to know what to do. if he had a good card, he would have pulled it six months ago.
We are between a rock and a hard place and I, too, hope the President has a card up his sleeve.
"A huge W supporter, I keep telling myself the President has a face card down and isn't showing it yet, and that when he does, his approach to both Iraq and Iran will make sudden, irrefutable sense. The Gates appointment to SecDef troubles me no end, as did Tony Blair's remarks about including Syria and Iran (!) in the 'peace process', as did the President's 'open-ness to new ideas' statement.
If Iran gets the bomb, Iran will use the bomb. The mad mullahs and their badly dressed front-man aren't using hyperbole or calculated intimidation tactics when they talk about the destruction of Israel. They mean it--these guys don't speak in figurative abstractions or euphemisms. Their terrorist proxies' rhetoric about the destruction of the 'Great Satan' isn't just rhetoric, either; they mean it, too, and with even a few dozen low-yield dirty bombs or chemical/biological devices in the right places, they could some serious damage--although I think my country is a great deal stronger and more resilient than its enemies can ever fully know.
Now isn't the time for the President to falter in his resolve, and I doubt he has, but I wish he would offer his supporters (like me) some reassurance on this."
Sorry I am negative, Bush has only limited Presidential powers to strike Iran. Without the House and Senate we will do nothing to Iran and then Iran will build the bomb (I believe they have it already) and yes they will use it.
We lost much when we didn't complete the job in Iraq with overwhelming firepower when we had the chance. Another example of PC failed war, hearts and minds crap that caused America 50,000 lives in Vietnam and a million dead South Vietnamese when we pulled out.