Bush Won't Be Rushed on Announcing New Iraq Policy


by Robert Sprackland - Date: 2006-12-19 - Word Count: 707 Share This!

By KING, The Wonder Dog, NewsweAk Writer

President George "Stay the Course" Bush told the press he would "not be rushed" into making a strategy decision change for Iraq now. This is the administration's first major change in its Iraq policy since 2001. After having repeatedly rushed incomplete intelligence, political arm twisting, and a host of non-truths ("lies") about reasons why the U.S. needed to invade Iraq, the president is now switching to a slow down and wait policy before doing anything new.

What, pray tell, is this man smoking? A recent example of the president's activity goes like this: In consultations with "many knowledgeable people," he heard what he called both some interesting ideas and some "ideas that would lead to defeat." Interesting ideas included "leaving before the job is done, ideas such as not helping this government take the necessary and hard steps to be able to do its job," and being honest with the American people about the real reasons the U.S. invaded Iraq in the first place. "And I reject those ideas," Bush said after meeting with top generals at the Pentagon.

Now I may be a newshound, but I recall my Samuel Johnston, who once wrote to an author "what you have written is both interesting and original, but that which is interesting is not original, and that which is original is not interesting." Instead of "interesting" and "original," Bush's response would likely replace those words with "reasonable" and "acceptable."

Posing with the bobble-headed Joint Chiefs of Staff, Bush said he had "a very candid and fruitful discussion about how to secure this country," which led to questions on why the president thought the U.S. needed to be secured. Focusing on the U.S. situation would divert attention from Iraq, Bush said, giving us time to figure out "how to… win a war that we now find ourselves in." The "war that we now find ourselves in" was the president's description of the Iraq War he orchestrated. It seems to me that it should not have taken him three years to find this out.

Bush admitted "there has been a lot of violence in Iraq. The violence has been horrific," and that he had no idea that there would be any violence when he began the war in 2003. Cheney had promised flowers and sweets.

Bush, originally scheduled to deliver his speech on a new Iraq strategy before Christmas, has delayed it until early next year. " 'Delay' is still an influential word in Washington," said an anonymous K Street source. Defending his decision, Bush said, "I will not be rushed into making a difficult decision ... a necessary decision."

White House observers note that the sudden flip-flopping to a wait-and-see attitude signals possible major changes in the Iraqi policy are coming. One widely circulated idea is that Bush would make Iraq a protectorate of the U.S. --like Guam and Puerto Rico-- giving him the authority to pull out government support without it being a cut-and-run option. The scenario worked for Bush in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and some think he believes it will work in the wake of a Hurricane Saddam.

The president addressed some of the nation's military personnel, including the 140,000 stationed in Iraq. "I appreciate their sacrifices, and I want them to know I'm focused on developing a strategy that will help them achieve their mission," the president said. Bush once again failed to define just what he meant by "the mission," though it was declared "accomplished" over three years ago in May 2003. The strategy he is developing, though, apparently must be worked out in time squeezed between Christmas parties, vacation, fund-raising events, and extolling the virtues of his closest staff. Finding a way to help the troops, though, ranks somewhere in the president's top 50 priorities.

Bush has already decided against many proposals, but is enthusiastic about those that advocate staying the course, as long as that phrase is no longer used. For 2007, Tony Snow is reportedly going to unveil the new slogan, "Sticking to the Original Plan!"

"At the appropriate time, I'll stand up in front of the nation and say, 'here's where we're headed,' " Bush said. Presumably, by then the president will know where he's headed. The handbasket should be a clue.


Related Tags: bush, iraq war, satire, getting the job done, violence in iraq

King the Wonder Dog dictates his views on the odd human species to R. G. Sprackland. Sprackland is a zoologist, and together they present their views from an odd perspective.

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