He has undoubtedly told them.. It is me or you and I have the most powerful military in the world in my command.
The Iraqi government is going to allow the president to do what he wants to do.
Letting the Iraqi's Shiite government run the show has failed. What we need to do is make that Government a puppet government under our control.
We need to kill militant Shiites and Sunnis... we must show those that oppose us no mercy.
If we do that in a very short time there will be no resistance.
I would warn the Democrats about Abraham Lincoln. In 1863 no one thought the Republicans could win in 1864. It was obvious that Lincoln was a dead duck and that Democrats were going to rule the roost once the 1864 elections were over.
Then and at long last, Lincoln put General Grant in charge of the American military. For several long years Generals only capable of losing were in charge. And once Grant got the leadership of Army of the Potomac the South was certain to be defeated.
Once the south was defeated Lincoln's popularity skyrocketed.The man who had no chance in 1863 won an easy victory in 1864.
Not much has changed with the American people.. even in our civil war Americans loved a winner and hated a loser. It took Lincoln from 1861 until nearly 1864 to figure out how to win the Civil war. Today Lincoln is a great hero. But there was a time when the media portrayed Abe as dumb oaf and physical freak from the backwoods. The elite of the day liked to say he was way out of his league... Lincoln, they said, was just not bright enough to do the job.
If Bush only fails as much as Lincoln he will go down in history as a very great man.. and the media of that time and this time will go down as losers that can't be trusted to get much of anything right.
To those that think of Lincoln as the man in the Lincoln monument, I would invite you to look at the press coverage of Lincoln in 1863 and early 1864. Press reports on President Lincoln were far worse than those on President Bush. AS ususal the press was and is wrong.
But history only records fantastic victories. It does not record all the misteps on the way to victory.
The thing that makes President Bush special to me is he is not afraid to change course when things go wrong. That is trait that both LBJ and Nixon lacked. That is why they failed in Viet Nam and President Bush like President Lincoln will succeed.
Grant and Sherman also changed the rules of engagement. The Southern plantations which were supporting Lee's army were destroyed. When Atlanta fell I think before the election it was seen as a real sign of success.
Beautifully stated, Tator.
See link at post #214.
And why is it that the American people's memory is so short that they continue to believe a lying and stupid press corps? The press was wrong in 1864 and it's still wrong in 2007 and yet there are way too many people (including a lot on FR) who will believe anything reported.
"If Bush only fails as much as Lincoln he will go down in history as a very great man.. and the media of that time and this time will go down as losers that can't be trusted to get much of anything right.
To those that think of Lincoln as the man in the Lincoln monument, I would invite you to look at the press coverage of Lincoln in 1863 and early 1864. Press reports on President Lincoln were far worse than those on President Bush. AS ususal the press was and is wrong."
In terms of the press and approval ratings, I agree with the comparison. As far as Lincoln's willingness to use ruthless force on his adversaries - for better or worse - I don't think Bush will. Sherman burned southern cities, but I doubt Bush would order the same devestation for a city in Iraq.
Amen, CT.
I totally agree with you on the Bush/Lincoln analogy.
Lincoln, like Bush, trusted Generals who were too willing not to use the proper amount of force. It is telling that both Abizaid and Casey were shown the door, as well as Rumsfeld.
I have to take some exception about Nixon. Nixon threw down the Linebacker campaigns when the North Vietnamese got squirrely, and his Chinese gambit threw Soviet diplomacy out the door in 1971.
Nixon was undone by his own demons, sad to say. I always had a sneaking admiration for the sumbi*ch.
Bush knows what Patton knew: "Americans love a winner, and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time! I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost, and laughed!"
Be Seeing You,
Chris