This headline says it all:
"Bush begins 5-day push to defend Iraq war"
President Bush will miss several bike rides and at least one nap over the next few days as he hits the road to sell the Iraqi war to the American people one more time.
The President, who is too busy to talk to any of the Gold Star Mothers camped outside his Texas ranch, will use public money to head to Idaho and Utah where he will work to convince Americans that his complete and utter lack of any strategy in Iraq is somehow making them safe. As he told the country this morning in his weekly radio address:
"Our troops know that they're fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere to protect their fellow Americans from a savage enemy. They know that if we do not confront these evil men abroad, we will have to face them one day in our own cities and streets, and they know that the safety and security of every American is at stake in this war, and they know we will prevail."
The President of the United States of Unreality has no plan for the war on terror, just sound bites. It appears that the President's plan is to turn Iraq into a failed state, rife with civil war, lacking in basic infrastructure and closely allied with Iran. Is that what our soldiers are dying for, Mr. President?
No wonder this little coward won't speak to Cindy Sheehan. How can he defend his incompetence to the mother of a young man who died because of that incompetence?
Former Senator Max Cleland provided the Democratic response to President:
"There is no strategy to win. The President disregarded the advice of top military brass who said that at least 500,000 troops were needed to secure Iraq. The President committed only one-fifth of that force to the war. Consequently, our military is completely overextended. Many servicemen and women are returning to Iraq for their third tour. The all-volunteer force is suffering - not only in the active force, but also in the Guard and Reserves.
Iraq is still not secure and we don't have the forces there to make it secure.
Furthermore, Osama Bin Laden and his terrorist cadre who did attack our country on September 11, 2001 are still on the loose."
Interesting point, the leader of the terrorists that attacked our country is still free and under no apparent pressure from our War President.
Cleland continues:
"The war is well into its third year. Early on the President said 'Mission Accomplished and major combat over.' This judgment was wrong. Major combat is not over. The cost has been extremely bloody for this nation.
"Almost 2,000 servicemen and women are dead. More than 15,000 have been wounded. A quarter of a million American servicemen and women have returned to our country to face an uncertain future. They bring with them the horrors and pain of a war with no end.
[...]
"The Bush Administration needs to step up the plate. It's time to face the truth. It's time for a strategy to win in Iraq or a strategy to get out."
President Bush clings to his illusion that the war in Iraq is somehow re-making the Middle East. An illusion shared by fewer Americans every day.
"We're spreading the hope of freedom across the broader Middle East," Bush said. "By advancing the cause of liberty in a troubled region, we are bringing security to our own citizens and laying the foundations of peace for our children and grandchildren."
The only thing being spread by President Bush is the bullshit that stuck to his shoes while visiting his cattle in their climate controlled barn.
The problem that Bush now faces is pretty basic. You can only sell bullshit to people for so long before they start to see and smell it for what it is. Bush's brand of bullshit may not smell as bad in Idaho as it does here in California, but even in Idaho a lot of people are going to stand up-wind of the President.
Crossposted at Words Have Power.