Tag: Iraq

What America Hears When Bush Speaks: “Blah Blah”

Trish

It finally seems like most Americans view George W. Bush as the bull-headed, tunnel-visioned, arrogant jerk we do. A new ABC/Washington Post poll shows his citizens have given up on their president.

Bush’s approval rating among political independents — the center of American politics — is at a career low, 25 percent

Just 28 percent think Bush — long seen as inflexible on the war — will use the report to adjust his Iraq policy. Sixty-six percent think he’ll stick with his war policy no matter what the Petraeus report says…

Americans, by nearly 2-1, disapprove of Bush’s handling of the situation in Iraq, 65 percent to 34 percent — around where it’s been for most of the last year and a half. His broader job approval rating is almost identical: Just 33 percent approve of his work in office overall, matching his career low. He hasn’t seen majority approval in an ABC/Post poll since January 2005.

And it’s not just folks like Pensito Review readers and writers — most of whom never liked Bush to begin with — who are down on him.

Bush’s approval rating among political independents — the center of American politics — is at a career low, 25 percent. He’s also at 25 percent approval among people who describe themselves as ideological moderates, matching his low in that group.

Americans also aren’t scared or convinced by the Bush, “If we leave the terrorists will follow us home” line.

There’s little public acceptance of two of the chief arguments against withdrawal — that leaving Iraq in its current state would make the United States more vulnerable, and indeed that victory in Iraq is necessary for victory in the broader U.S. war on terrorism.

Just 22 percent of Americans say withdrawing from Iraq would increase the risk of terrorism occurring in the United States. Half as many say the opposite — that remaining in Iraq increases the risk — while most by far, 65 percent, think the risk of an attack is about the same either way.

I don’t know if my fellow Americans are getting smarter or have just given up hoping Bush will be better.

New Ads Blame GOP Senators for Continuing Bush’s War

Jon Ponder

The public, including most liberals, blame Congressional Democrat for not ending Bush’s war — despite the fact that majorities of Democrats in both the House and the Senate voted against the war several times earlier this year.

The Democrats’ efforts were quashed in the Senate, however, where a majority of Republican senators continued to rubberstamp the president’s desire for never-ending war in the Middle East.

Now Americans Against Escalation in Iraq (AAEI) have launched an ad campaign against key Bush-enablers, GOP Senators Mitch McConnell, Norm Coleman, Susan Collins and Pete Domenici, targeting them, according to an AAEI news release, for “their continued support of the President’s endless Iraq war policy, which leaves our troops in the crosshairs of another country’s religious civil war.”

Titled “Fatigues,” the ad shows children going through mock basic training. It will air in each of the four senators’ states by the Campaign to Defend America, which is part of AAEI.

Former Loyal Bushie Bremmer Accuses Bush of Lying About Disbanding Iraqi Army

Jon Ponder

Pres. Bush has been accused of lying by a former loyal Bushie — Paul Bremmer, Bush’s viceroy in Iraq at the beginning of the U.S. occupation in 2003. The issue in dispute is who made the disastrous decision to disband the Iraqi Army after the American invasion. In “Dead Certain,” the new book on the Bush presidency by Robert Draper, Bush denies responsibility and blames Bremmer for disbanding the Iraqi military:

It will be interesting to see what Cheney has in store for Paul Bremmer, and whether a former loyal Bushie will get the same rough treatment as others who call this president out on his lies.

“The policy was to keep the army intact; didn’t happen,” Bush told biographer Robert Draper in excerpts published in Sunday’s New York Times.

Draper pressed Bush to explain why, if he wanted to maintain the army, his chief administrator for Iraq, L. Paul Bremer III, issued an order in May 2003 disbanding the 400,000-strong army without pay.

“Yeah, I can’t remember; I’m sure I said, ‘This is the policy, what happened?’ ” Bush said, adding: “Again, Hadley’s got notes on all this stuff” — a reference to national security advisor Stephen J. Hadley.

Hadley may have notes but so does Bremmer. He has denied the president’s accusation in a column in the New York Times:

[…]

Starting With No Exit Strategy Means No End in Sight

Trish

The question isn’t “Will we leave Iraq?” The question is, “When will we leave, and how do we begin that process?” Bush answers by insisting we can’t leave now. He never says when we can, and that’s because he never had an exit strategy beyond shock and awe and mission accomplished. After three months, he was out of ideas.

See this film. If your nearest theater isn’t listed here, email them. I did, and they answered immediately and told me it’s coming my way soon.

Bush 2004: Comparing Iraq and Vietnam ‘Sends Wrong Message’ to Troops, Enemies

Jon Ponder

BONUS AUDIO CLIP
Bush: “Perhaps the most important lesson that I learned in Vietnam is that you cannot fight a guerrilla war with conventional forces.”

Today, George Bush lectured the country about the dangers of deploying out of Iraq by comparing leaving Iraq to the end of the Vietnam war. On “Countdown” tonight, MSNBC played a snippet from Bush at a news conference in 2004 literally bristling at the same comparison, and all but accusing those who made it of hating the troops and giving aid and comfort to the enemy:

Q Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, April [2004] is turning into the deadliest month in Iraq since the fall of Baghdad, and some people are comparing Iraq to Vietnam and talking about a quagmire. Polls show that support for your policy is declining and that fewer than half Americans now support it. What does that say to you and how do you answer the Vietnam comparison?

THE PRESIDENT: I think the analogy is false. I also happen to think that analogy sends the wrong message to our troops, and sends the wrong message to the enemy.

Powell Backing McCain

Trish

No one ever accused Gen. Colin Powell, head of the joint chiefs under Bush 41 and secretary of state under Bush 43, of picking the right horse. So why start now? Houston Chronicle:

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has time for any presidential candidate who wants to chat about foreign policy. He has money, though, only for John McCain.

Powell has shared his expertise in meetings with Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Rudy Giuliani, his spokeswoman, Peggy Cifrino, said Tuesday. But when it comes to sharing his money, Powell chose McCain, the Republican senator from Arizona. Powell’s $2,300 contribution last week gave a bit of needed cachet to McCain’s struggling campaign.

McCain and Powell share several bonds, not the least of which is they both actually fought on the front lines for their country, making them anomalies among the chickenhawks of their party. They also have both been willing, far too often, to serve as apologists for the Iraq invasion and occupation.

Iraq So-Called Government Falls Apart as Remaining Sunnis Quit Cabinet

Trish

I hate to break away from Utah mine collapse coverage just as Lindsay Lohan, in the state for more rehab, might make an appearance but…

The Iraqi government is falling apart.

…five more ministers announced a boycott of Cabinet meetings — leaving the embattled prime minister’s unity government with no members affiliated with Sunni political factions.

Clueless State Dept. calls Sunni boycott “very healthy political debate”

…The new cracks in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government appeared even as U.S. military officials sounded cautious notes of progress on security, citing strides against insurgents linked to al-Qaida in Iraq but also new threats from Iranian-backed Shiite militias.

…The Cabinet boycott of five ministers loyal to former Iraqi leader Ayad Allawi left the government, at least temporarily, without participants where were (sic) members of the Sunni political apparatus — a deep blow to the prime minister’s attempt to craft reconciliation among the country’s majority Shiites and minority Sunnis and Kurds.

The defense minister is from a Sunni background but has no political ties and was chosen by al-Maliki.

The Allawi bloc, a mixture of Sunnis and Shiites, cited al-Maliki’s failure to respond to its demands for political reform. The top Sunni political bloc already had pulled its six ministers from the 40-member Cabinet of al-Maliki, a Shiite, last week.

So there are no Sunnis at all in the Iraqi Cabinet anymore. But hey, the U.S. State Department isn’t worried. That’s because they’re also clueless.

“There’s a very healthy political debate that is going on in Iraq, and that is good,” [State Department spokesman Sean] McCormack said. “It’s going to be for them (the Iraqi people) to make the judgments about whether or not that government is performing.”

What we need in this country is a very healthy Iraqi-style debate on whether our government is performing.

House Dems’ Bill to Stop Permanent Bases in Iraq Passes Overwhelmingly

Jon Ponder

The bill was first proposed two years ago:

by a vote of 399-24, the House passed legislation introduced by Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) to prevent permanent military bases in Iraq and bar U.S. control over Iraqi oil resources.

Lee’s bill, H.R. 2929, declares that it is the policy of the United States not to establish any military installation or base for the purpose of providing for the permanent stationing of United States Armed Forces in Iraq and not to exercise United States control of the oil resources of Iraq and prohibits the use of funds for these purposes.

Flag Creator Fails to Blackmail City with Rovian Logic

Trish

Barnett and his patriotic display

It was only a matter of time, I suppose, until someone co-opted Rovian phrasing to try to make a buck [see update]. A Florida business owner named Barry Barnett designed a yellow flag meant to show support for the troops. Then he tried to emotionally blackmail St. Augustine city officials into purchasing it.

“We’ve got people right now dying (in Iraq),” he said. “How do you think they feel about a community that won’t have the courage to fly a flag to support them?” Barnett said.

Ah yes. If you don’t spend $125 apiece on this junky looking thing I created — and buy one for every city flagpole — you don’t love our troops. Rove himself couldn’t have said it better.

Barnett had more success pedaling his product in nearby Palm Coast, where he lives, along with other cities in Flagler County. St. Augustine commissioners, who developed a strict flag flying policy a couple of years ago after gay pride supporters had the city purchase and display rainbow flags downtown, stood firm.

“We’ve got the red, white and blue up every day,” [Commissioner Errol Jones] said. “And for (Barnett) to suggest that if you don’t fly his flag, you don’t support our troops is ridiculous. He’s taking it to another level.”

Update: When this post was written, I was referencing local newspaper coverage which said Barnett was selling his flags.

The city would have to buy it from Barnett at a cost of $125. He says other cities, including Palm Coast where he lives, and De Land agreed to fly the flag.

Barnett has suggested that St. Augustine would be unpatriotic not to fly the flag.

I apparently missed the later correction, which Barnett has called to my attention.

Barnett took issue with a reference in our editorial Sunday — City should say no to yellow flag — that said he was selling the flags at $125 each. He said he is not selling the flags or making any money from this project. A flag company in Daytona Beach — Bob McGarity Advertising & Flag Co. — will produce and sell the flags after Barnett completes the final design, Rob McGarity, owner, said Monday. We stand corrected.

I have invited Barnett to post further corrections of this record, and look forward to finding out more. In the meantime, we can slam him for his definition of patriotism, but not for any profit motive.

How Harry Reid Blew It

Trish

I consider Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) the Democrats’ own dirty little Mormon secret. I am embarrassed every time I hear the man speak. I cringe when he claims to represent people like me.

And I guess I’m not alone. The Houston Chronicle’s Cragg Hines seems to agree, showing how Reid keeps getting it wrong.

What did President Bush want? At least 60 more days to prosecute the ill-omened battles in Iraq. What did Reid’s move give Bush? At least 60 more days to prosecute the ill-omened battles in Iraq.

There should be an especially fiery place in the political hereafter for Harry Reid if the Democratic leader continues to mismanage the Senate debate on the Iraq war.

To the ga-ga applause of at least some of the most vocal antiwar forces, Reid yanked from further immediate consideration the legislative vehicle that provided a platform for the debate.

The ultimate goal of Reid, some of his senior colleagues and the antiwar movement is wholly admirable. But they have the strategy bass-ackwards.

Reid, once a Golden Gloves middleweight, got sucker punched.

What did President Bush want? At least 60 more days to prosecute the ill-omened battles in Iraq.

What did Reid’s move give Bush? At least 60 more days to prosecute the ill-omened battles in Iraq.

Given the long congressional recess in August, there is now little, if any, prospect for significant Senate debate on a real change of course in Iraq until after Labor Day.