It is with a sense of awe that I read die hard bush supporters like Charles Krauthammer. How can anyone show such a complete lack of judgement, and even a connection to reality and yet stay employed by a major newspaper?
This is just amazing. "History Will Judge."Krauthammer is still waiting for Broder's Bush Bounce. This disaster of a Presidency will be vindicated by history, according to Krauthammer.
For the past 150 years, most American war presidents -- most notably Lincoln, Wilson and Roosevelt -- have entered (or reentered) office knowing war was looming. Not so George W. Bush. Not so the war on terror. The 9/11 attacks literally came out of the blue
Despite repeated warnings the 9/11 attacks came from "out of the blue." The invasion of Iraq which had been in planning since the earliest days of the administration also apparently came from "out of the blue".
He has this to say about a recent interview with the president:
In the hour I spent with the president (devoted mostly to foreign policy), that equanimity was everywhere in evidence -- not the resignation of a man in the twilight of his presidency but a sense of calm and confidence in eventual historical vindication.
It is precisely that quality that allowed him to order the surge in Iraq in the face of intense opposition from the political establishment (of both parties), the foreign policy establishment (led by the feckless Iraq Study Group), the military establishment (as chronicled by Woodward) and public opinion itself. The surge then effected the most dramatic change in the fortunes of an American war since the summer of 1864.
That is delusion, Charles, not equanity, and finally in the "bizarro world" inhabitted by bush and Krauthammer:
That kind of resolve requires internal fortitude. Some have argued that too much reliance on this internal compass is what got us into Iraq in the first place. But Bush was hardly alone in that decision. He had a majority of public opinion, the commentariat and Congress with him. In addition, history has not yet rendered its verdict on the Iraq war. We can say that it turned out to be longer and more costly than expected, surely. But the question remains as to whether the now-likely outcome -- transforming a virulently aggressive enemy state in the heart of the Middle East into a strategic ally in the war on terror -- was worth it. I suspect the ultimate answer will be far more favorable than it is today
When will this happen? I'm sure turning Iraq into a strategic ally will make our continued occupation a necessity for 100 years or so. I would have thought that the waste of 12 billion a month squandered in the Middle East a liability, Krauthammer makes it sound an asset. With the flow of weapons into Iraq continuing and even according to reports accelerating it is only a matter of time until this shithole blows up again. I believe history will Judge bush and his apologists but not a vindication merely confirming the consensus that he is the Worst President ever. Somewhere Buchanan and Harding must be celebrating.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...