Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Hackneyed Battle-Lines

Sean Hannity, Charles Krauthammer, etc./the Republicans in Washington - they're all seething in response to president Obama's Iraq speech. They're mad that he 1) never admitted that the surge worked, 2) didn't give President Bush credit for the surge, and 3) refrained from declaring U.S. victory. Well, guess what, folks, apart from possibly #2, President Obama was correct in these omissions. The surge flat-out DIDN'T work. This, folks, in that there still ISN'T a unified government in Iraq. And as far as that victory goes, we haven't exactly achieved that, either (no unified government, violence back on the rise, millions and millions of displaced civilians, a still largely destroyed infrastructure, Christians basically having to worship in secret, etc., etc.). I mean, just ask the American public here. They'll tell ya' (I cite a recent CNN poll which states that 65% of the American people say that we HAVEN'T achieved our objectives in Iraq...................................................................................................P.S. And let us not forget, either, folks, the stated reasons for our going into Iraq IN THE FIRST PLACE were weapons of mass destruction and a supposed link between Iraq and Al Qaeda. If in fact we're supposed to give President Bush all this credit for the surge, should we not also hold the fellow responsible for getting us involved in the first place? I'm just asking here....................................................................................................P.S. 2 I also want it known that these sentiments are coming from someone who HASN'T engaged in a plethora of Bush bashing. I've actually defended Mr. Bush on occasions (against Nazi comparisons, etc.). I'm just trying to stand up to revisionism (Charles Krauthammer, especially - he should clearly know better), that's all.

3 comments:

Commander Zaius said...

I agree Will but I am just to damn tired of the whole subject of Iraq and just pray we can get the hell out before it melts down, again.

It only barely made the news here in South Carolina but they had to close a bridge in one of the less developed counties because it was extremely close to collapse. While it only crossed a small river it is major county road with lots of traffic. Decades of neglect and no money to fix much less rebuild the damn thing.

Can't help but think that the money wasted in Iraq could have supplied millions of jobs here as well began fixing our sorry infastructure.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

I actually agree with Keith Olbermann. He called the Iraq War the worst foreign policy decision in American history and I absolutely concur.

Dervish Sanders said...

But didn't Keith Olbermann only call the Iraq War "the worst foreign policy decision in American history" because of his bias against, and desire to smear GWB? I mean, he may be right, but he said what he did for the wrong reasons..........

BTW, the reasons why the he surge should be considered a failure extend beyond those you listed. I blogged about this awhile ago...........

I should also write something about the president's speech. I didn't care for the line where Obama claimed that Iraq was "a war to disarm a state [that] became a fight against an insurgency". Apparently he did forget that there were no WMDs.