The man is pathetic. He has become a laughing stock. His bravado, so long his best ally has betrayed him and has now become his caricature. "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job," will be to Bush what "I am not a crook" was to Nixon, a defense that is turned by reality into a metaphor for what is wrong with the entire administration.
The brouhahas over the new Kartina tapes, the ports issue, the Indian nuclear deal, etc. etc. are all actually unfair. There was nothing new in the Katrina tapes. The ports deal is a non-event. And the Indian deal might well be a great move given the potential India has as both an economic powerhouse and a political and economic counter-weight to China. But Bush can now do nothing right. No matter what he says or does, he is a laughing stock.
It's about time Bush started to reap the whirlwind. But I could still wish that public opinion could be more discriminating.
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I don't want to make this an "all about me" comment, which is what I say before making a comment that's all about me, but when will Bush's shrinking support, increasingly evident dishonesty, and other shortcomings affect anything other than the headlines? Specifically (this is the me part), our troops on the ground or soon-to-be.
As I face a year in Iraq, I've overcome my personal feelings about this war and have been able to make my service about the people around me. Still, I have frustrations. As I adjust from civilian life to active duty, I'm often frustrated by the strict outlines everyone needs to adhere to when assigning tasks or giving orders. We can't even ask a private to clean the latrine without giving a task, purpose, and, here comes my point, END STATE. "Your task is to clean the latrine IOT provide a healthy environment. End state: A clean latrine." (IOT - in order to. We are to avoid five-plus-letter-words whenever possible.)
I know my end states for everything I do...except one. The big one. Supposedly, our end state in Iraq, the point at which the job is done and we go home, is when democracy is established and the Iraqis can maintain security themselves. OK, great. Our end state is a stae which has not existed in the region. Ever.
How long will we use 100,000+ US troops on year-long rotations to establish some sort of "security" IOT train up a couple thousand Iraqi troops each year?
Any thoughts?
"Nation Building."
Very interesting term. Interesting, on one hand, in that I haven't heard it at all as I prepare to head to the sandbox. Everyone here, and perhaps most Americans, paint a picture where we're standing between the good people of Iraq and the bad people of Iraq, a disconnected third-party only acting as a positive influence. Hardly the case.
Diplomacy, economics, and cultural interaction... what are those? My friend Dick told me we only had to overthrow Sadam and we'd be welcomed with flowers and parades as democracy blossomed in the new sunlight of freedom. Then his friend George gave some big victory speach, the contents of which I can't recall, but I do remember a "Mission Accomplished" banner behind him. I don't remember exactly when that was, but it must have been recently or I wouldn't still be heading to Iraq for a year...
I digress. Today was a day in need of much venting in the Army. Thanks for the venue!
Rob and billy bob: If either of you check back on this string (as Rob just did apparently), I have posted some thoughts triggered by oyur earlier commenst in a subseqent main post ("The Future of Iraq").
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