The (Eventual) Decider
I remember flipping through some conservative blogs a few months ago, where some people were talking about Bush’s handling of the Iraq war. And one common theme I recall, when other people were complaining about staying the course and etc., that there were those who would defend Bush because “that’s what a leader does” and “he’s made a decision and stuck with it, even when it’s unpopular.”
Wish I could remember where I saw these things. I’d love to go back and see if any of them would like to respond to his “well, I’m thinkin’ on it” for the last month or so.
January 8th, 2007 14:12
Well, in fairness, I’m happy he’s not the ‘rapid’ (or rabid…) decider he was. It takes a long time to jump start a brain that’s been shelved for a while.
January 9th, 2007 09:46
Unfortunately Spinnn if you’re looking for a ‘cahnge of weather’ prepare to be soundly disappointed. The supporters of Bush are as stubborn as he is and aren’t about to admit a need to change the course.
January 9th, 2007 09:49
I wish I could find a right-wing blog that actually admitted to being wrong and maybe…just maybe took responsibility for it. The whole Jamil-Hussein-really-does-exist controversy comes to mind for starters.
January 11th, 2007 08:37
I think it’s difficult for anyone to admit they’re wrong about something so fundamentally fucked.
It so totally wouldn’t surprise me if they refused to admit that anything was wrong. And who would want to take responsibility for something so broken, despite their endorsement of it?
It’s like a child who hit a baseball through a window, and just tried to quietly whistle as he sneaks away from the scene. Except the window is our economy, the baseball is the Army, and the child is Bush.
January 11th, 2007 19:51
And after thinkin’ on it, he has apparently concluded that the whole problem with this war is that it isn’t big enough yet. Sounds like Iran is the next window he’ll be playing ball next to. This man might well destroy the entire planet.
January 12th, 2007 05:43
No, no, Somalia. See, Somalia’s a tiny country with no nuclear weapons and an outdated military infrastructure which is mostly tied up in local conflicts. So he can beat the crap out of them and declare victory to his heart’s content.
“OK, we got our asses kicked in Iraq– but don’t look at that, look over here where we’ve just destroyed several square miles of Africa! We’re winning the war on terror, I tell you, winning!”
January 12th, 2007 15:57
Sure it is hard for a lot of people to admit they are wrong but we expect more out of our leaders. I expect our leaders to be the best and brightest, the shining example of our ideals as a country. Maybe that is what bush honestly is when you take a good look around the country at who we live with.
January 15th, 2007 09:01
Yeah, I think just about everyone I saw on the Metro today seemed to drool just a little more than you normally see in public.
January 15th, 2007 12:51
“OK, we got our asses kicked in Iraq– but don’t look at that, look over here where we’ve just destroyed several square miles of Africa! We’re winning the war on terror, I tell you, winning!”
Considering how much we’d beaten up on Iraq’s military over the past two decades, if we’re getting our asses kicked now, how can we possibly expect any better when we’re forced to go back in a few years, or when Iran gets the bomb?
If we can’t hold a country like Iraq, this world is farked.
January 15th, 2007 15:16
Okay, that’s a little unfair.
The US isn’t fighting what’s left of Iraq’s military. It’s fighting people both within and without Iraq who want to fight Americans.
The United States is sort of in the position that England was in during the American Revolution; superior military prepared for conventional war pitted against a foe experienced in guerrilla tactics who knows the lay of the land (the colonists learned these techniques well from the natives, even as Her Majesty’s soldiers refused to listen to them).
You avoid guerrilla warfare if you win the hearts and minds of the people of the area. The United States has failed to do that, contrary to Bush’s rhetoric.
January 16th, 2007 02:27
“You avoid guerrilla warfare if you win the hearts and minds of the people of the area. The United States has failed to do that, contrary to Bush’s rhetoric.”
We hear little about the hearts and minds of the people, and so much about the attacks, which is so heavily supported by both outside parties and the remnants of Saddam’s war machine that the “insurgents” have possibly the best logistical base of any guerilla group. There’s been data that support both sides of the argument about whether we’re winning the hearts and minds of the general Iraqi citizen.
As far as unfair, you would have to assume other groups aren’t watching our actions trying to learn how to turn what works in Iraq against us. That includes radical Christians in this country, communists, other groups with an axe to grind, etc. Failure here won’t be like Vietnam where we got a decade breathing room.
January 16th, 2007 02:27
Dammit I hate arguing politics nowadays, so: “You win. I’m gonna go get drunk now.”
January 17th, 2007 07:45
Yeah, honestly, I’d rather make fun of Bush.