Uh-oh.
As if he wasn't open to suggestions on November 6?
He's just baiting the Democrats to make stupid suggetions. They have no plan and everyone knows it.
The upside of the situation, is that now there is no political value for the Democrats to oppose the war. Now they must deal with it.
In fact, we ARE WINNING the war, so the best thing the Democrats can do at this time is HELP us to continue winning the war.
It gives us an opportunity to shift tactics dramatically, and this might not be all bad.
Bush can play "Good cop" with the Iraqi government telling them that now the Dems have Congress, the Iraqi government is going to have to really stand up or the Dems (bad cop) will pull the rug out from under him/them.
I think we can make this work in a way that we come out ahead.
The other thing, pretty soon we are going to be up against Iran and Syria... the Dems cannot gain politically by screwing that up. I think they will realize that we must PULL TOGETHER and win the WOT.
Of course, I am always an optimist..so I might be deluding myself.
"I'm open to suggestion."
"Bush lied."
"No, really. What do you want to do?"
"Bush lied."
"Do you have a plan?"
"Bush's failed policies."
"So what do you think of this Sadr fellow?"
"Bush's failed policies."
"How about the Iraqi partitioning plan?"
"Bush lied."
"So do you think we should raise the troop levels?"
"Bush's failed policies."
"Hey, thanks for the input. Have a nice day."
I fear that his continued reliance on Bush 41's stable--Baker, et al--shows he's gotten the wrong message, the one that wrecked Bush 41's presidency. But he is trying to recover his footing in this new environment, and it seems to me he's trying to show he's not going to be a lame duck but will try new things.
I just hope he doesn't continue down this path permanently. The Bush family seems to think a presidency should become more "mainstream" as it goes, when what 43 SHOULD be doing is becoming more hardcore conservative. Because as I see it, 2008 is going to be The Return of Conservatism. Why do I think this? Because for all its flaws, the GOP held the majority for 12 years and now the libs will be racing to get as much done in two years as they can because the simple fact is Americans don't like liberals. (They DO like spenders...until they get their pet project funded, then they want "responsible government".)
Bush HAS to walk this road now. But it's just a shortcut, not a highway. He had better get on the Conservative Expressway by next spring, and if he does he will be well-positioned to say "I TRIED working it their way, but look what those crazy libs are doing!" The public wants him to work with them...until they learn how crazy they are in DC. Then, after following the people's demands, he can say "I did it your way, and look at what I found? Now YOU follow ME."
He CAN do this. I just hope he will. But so many politicians want to be liked that they won't take the risky moves needed for political courage to take root again.
Regards, Ivan
Weak weak weak..... LOL
fight it like a war and not a police action
Great! Here's what you need to do, Mr.President:
1. Arm every last Kurd. This not only scares the bejesus out of every last Islamic "dead-ender" it also scares the shi'ite out of the Turks, Iranians, Syrians, Saudis and a bunch of other goat-herding, pseudo-nation states. Perhaps when faced by the possibility of a Kurdish nation, armed to the teeth, and with warm, fuzzy feelings for Americans, the rest of the Arab world will step up to the plate and help out, or restrain their own reactionary Islamonazis.
2. Ship said Kurds to the Sunni Triangle with sufficient firepower to return the entire country to it's pristine, desert state ujntil this crap stops...right now.
3. Scorched earth, if compliance with #2 is not forthcoming.
4. Ensure the "Iraqi people" (an artificial construct) who are holding up the Freedom Express, are reduced to collecting rainwater and hunting insects in order to ensure a minimum level of survival.
5. Disband what passes for an "Iraqi government". It does not deserve continued existance, since it is so willing to compromise with the lements within Iraqi society bent upon it's destruction. After the Kurds apply an M-16 enema to the rest of Iraq, new elections can be held.
6. Any system which shows any promise of offering a viable aleternative to liberal, free-market democracy must be ruthlessly crushed as soon as it rears it's ugly head.
7. Repeat as necessary until Iraqis finally surrender to the inevitable through the combination of starvation, rampant disease and broken wills, and the required elements for the building of a stable democracy (loss of faith in Islam, loss of loyalty to sect or tribe, obvious superiority of the Western System) present themselves.
Hope this helps.
Real key thing here of why we're in IRAQ. (IMHO only, of course)
1. Create the battlespace of our choosing to engage the terrorists that are in hiding world-wide.
2. This place must be of value to the enemy where they will come from all over the world out their rat-holes and be willing to fight and die for it.
3. Keep them engaged for as long as they are a threat to NYC, San Diego, DC, ETC. (Fight and die over there, not here taking our women and children with them)
Let's see what the Demos have to say about that.
Bush has always said he's open for suggestions. The Dems have never had any that would help us win. The only plan they have is to demean the troops and this country with a "cut & run" policy.
At first all the Iraqis were our enemies, though the shi'ites were being oppressed and just needed a `nudge' to overthrow the baathist sunnis . . .
Now we're fighting shi'ites and sunnis of all stripes.
Suggestions . . . how about standing-off and bombing the living s*** out of them, like it's a real war, as we did in Germany, Japan and Afghanistan?
Then we can give them a bunch of money and we'll all be friends!
(I'd like to be paid now.)
Here's one: "Win!"
"I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure..."
Seriously. WTF are we waiting for? We fire bombed Dresden. We nuked Hiroshima. Why is Sadr City still standing? Reduce the entire Sunni triangle to rubble.
Why now?
Here's a suggestion for GWB: Kill Mookie al Murdering Sadr, Iran's puppet, without delay, and arrest or kill every member of his Mahdi militia caught roaming the streets with weapons or bullying the Iraqi population. Those people are a constant plague on Iraq and the Coalition troops.
I think Mr Webb has a suggestion.