Things are starting to get interesting, or so it seems. The news is that Bush is going to get confronted on his Iraq policy, and as this has yet to play out, I am hopeful. Bush has led us into a problem so difficult, and screwed up, that there is virtually no solution. At great costs, we are not winning, and not losing. We can't leave, but we can't stay. Krugman has his editorial, Quagmire of the Vanities, and I call it aWol's qWagmire of the Vanities.
In the early days of the war, here at DKos, or perhaps elsewhere, some witty blogger coined the phrase, aWol's qWagmire, and I think that it is the appropriate term. This is Bush's vanity war and the centerpiece of his foreign policy, and it is by all accounts a failure.
In referring to the ISG report I recall Al Gore saying words to the effect, that he hoped the president could separate himself from all this and not think in terms of having to admit to a mistake, but think in terms of what is good for the country. We all wish that would happen, but it is truly hard to imagine. To quote, BarbinMd, "Bush's ego is in control."
This is not a call for impeachment, although I would certainly support it. I think our first priorty is to try and deal with the horrible mess in Iraq. Bush is busy working on a 'new plan' for Iraq, but as I see it, Bush's ego, and legacy are so much on the line, that his 'new plan,' for Iraq is just a variation of the old one. Even though they have been consistently wrong, the AEI, Kristol, Kagan, et al., are telling him what he wants to hear, and that is what he is listening to. He can't admit his mistake.There will be no new way forward unless the Democrats force his hand. There are presently some serious rumblings that this may be so.
IMHO, the current situation in Iraq has no chance of solution until we are willing to admit that it is exactly what it looks like, a colossal blunder. Accept responsibility for the error, and try to find some way to atone for our mistake. This will be a very bitter pill for some, but the bitter pills we are swallowing everyday, are worse. We have to admit that there is no military solution, and we may have to talk with Iran, and Syria. These certainly are not new ideas, but the president seems to have rejected them out of hand. After all the swaggering and strutting he has done, to admit the error, might be worse than impeachment.
This account has always troubled me.
Minutes before the speech, an internal television monitor showed the president pumping his fist. "Feels good," he said.
This is the link to the article from March 2003, http://www.unknownnews.net/...
The image of the president of the United States, acting like some kind of swaggering movie hero, feeling good and pleased with himself as he unleashes the dogs of war, with little or no idea of what he is doing, is appalling. His ego was soaring that night no doubt, and of course there is more.
I don't have any links for the carrier landing stunt, but it is well known. Would any disagree that his ego was in control that day, as he flew the plane, swaggered, strutted, and created his action figure doll. His glory was great, but fleeting. His enablers that day were overcome with joy. In a fair world they would admit their mistake as well. Dear diary there are rumblings that this ego is about to be confronted. Let it be so.
These are only two examples that demonstrate how much Bush sees this as about him. Iraq is a disaster that is going to cost us for years to come.His hollow gestures, and failed pr ploys, will hopefully come back to haunt him. We have yet to taste the bitter pill of national trauma, called, Haditha, yet Bush regards this as just a comma in history, and 100 yrs from now history will justify him. His ego is in control and he is out of touch. His ego has to be confronted. Let is happen now.
Take the poll, somewhere else if you can find one, "Do you believe Bush will ever be able to separate his ego from the decisions he makes about Iraq?"