President's (lack of) plan for Iraq

I guess the President hoped eight times a charm. Unfortunately for dear old Bush, anyone paying attention knows better. In his address tonight he spoke of the supposed advancements in Iraq and the plan forward. His main talking point: General David Petraeus. Throughout the whole address the President mentioned General Petraeus’ report regarding the steps taken to stabilize Iraq. Anyone watching Petraeus’ report to Congress’ Joint Committee knows that his hands have been tied. The President has accepted that fact that he no longer has any political credibility with the American public; so he turns to a new strategy. What is this new strategy? Putting all his eggs in General Petraeus’ basket. He mentioned his name eight times in the course of the entire address and used this as his main support for the continuation of the current troop surge. It’s unfortunate that such an honorable man such as Petraeus is having his named used for political purposes. As I watched the report earlier this week given by General Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, one thing was evident to me – they do not believe in the President’s plan. Their reports lacked both confidence and conviction. If Bush is really relying on Petraeus and Crocker to sell his war to the American people (which is certainly unfair to them both) then he needs to find himself better sales people. The American people are not buying it. Those who know politics can see right through the superficial, unmoving support given by two usually resolute leaders.

The second part of W’s new strategy rests on success in formally violent stricken regions such as Fallujah and Anbar. Though the President repeatedly assured the public that efforts in stabilizing Anbar have been successful, every piece of evidence shows the contrary. Just yesterday Islamic Sheikh Sattar Abu Reesha was murdered in Anbar only ten days after meeting with the President. Since when does the whole country rest on one region? The reason Bush continually spoke of the Anbar region was to divert the attention away from the many other regions which have continually gotten worse such as Sadr, Haswa, and Diyala. How can anyone possibly believe the words coming out Bush’s mouth at this point?

The most poignant point of the address in my opinion was when President Bush thanked Congress for giving him the funding to continue the war. This was probably the most truthful thing the President said all night. It really is ashame that so many Democrats lack the courage to do what is right for the women and men in the US military. The way to end the war is to cut funding - plain and simple. If the Democrats, collectively, had any backbone troops would already be on their way home. They have control of both houses and do have the votes to bring the war to an end. Most Democrats won’t vote against funding the war for one reason: self interest. By voting against war funding, Democrats give Republican challengers the opportunity to use the vote against them in the upcoming election (by saying voting against funding the war means voting against the troops). Clearly being re-elected is more important then the lives of American people to most elected officials.

On a final note…Bush mentioned Al- Qaeda. It’s been 6 years since 9/11/2001. Where is Osama Bin Laden Mr. President?

Regarding the response from the Democratic Party given by Rep. Jack Reed from Rhode Island - I do not have much to say. He mentioned that the Democrats wanted to change course. The Democrats were not elected last November to change course. They were elected to bring an end to the war. This is a sad time for the American populace.

Overall it was the same rhetoric we’ve heard from the President the past seven speeches. There is a new catch to the President’s plan this time around though. Civil War in Iraq at this point is inevitable. There are two political scenarios that can take place: One, Republican’s continue the war effort indefinitely costing the lives of thousands more of American soldiers and Iraqi civilians, or Two, Democrats bring an end to the war and Iraq falls into a all-out Civil War, at which point the Republicans pull the “I told you so” line even though remaining in Iraq only holds off the unavoidable chaos. It’s a political game where the lives of innocent civilians and American sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers are the pawns.

Its time to stop playing politics and save lives, this goes for not only Mr. Bush but all 535 elected officials.

-tg