Bush* Changes Strategy with $87 Billion Gamble

[kskiska]

President calls for international community to take greater share of burden as he asks Congress for huge sum to aid occupation

(snip)

Judith Kipper, an expert on the region at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Mr Bush's address had changed the focus of American engagement, redefining Iraq as a danger not because of weapons of mass destruction, or Saddam Hussein's former regime, but because it was the centre of the war on terrorism. That meant the White House could now argue that "we need help".

The question, she said, "is whether France, Germany and the other Europeans are going to act like grown-ups. The international community is severely broken at the moment, and we need to stick together."

The way the US had handled the occupation of Iraq meant that claims of a terrorism problem connected to Iraq had become a self-fulfilling prophecy, Ms Kipper argued. "Iraq is now a global threat. It was not before. But it is now."

more…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1038337,00.html

[TennesseeWalker]

1. I guess Bush will want a side of Freedom Fries with his troops.

This is ridiculous....what irony....Mr. Go-it-alone needs help from the French and Germans....Mr. No-nation-building needs help building a nation...."fiscally responsible" republicans ruin the economy and cause us to lose jobs....the "America Firsters" are going to make America Last..."leaving no child behind" means leaving all kinds of childrean behind..."family values" should more appropriately be termed "Crime Family Values"

Up is down, black is white, the poor don't need tax cuts, but the rich people do, war is peace...yeeeessshhhhhh

[JPace]

2. The world should serve him up.....

a nice big piece of humble pie,
make him crawl and go a beggin.
Wonder if he ever said the words "Please",
or "Thank You"?

[PartyPooper]

5. The *only* solace I have in all of this mess

is that his parents, George I and Barbara, see first-hand what a friggin' idiot their son is...and, how he is despised the world over!
It will be delicious to watch their reaction when the Dems defeat this incompetent neanderthal @sshole next year! With any luck, in the meantime, he could be impeached...or, sent off to the Hague for war crimes...that would be even better!

:evilfrown:

[Gman]

8. At this rate could Poppy and Barbara

really expect him to get reelected? I think that privately they're concerned, if not resigned.

[UpInArms]

3. wtf???

The question, she said, "is whether France, Germany and the other Europeans are going to act like grown-ups. The international community is severely broken at the moment, and we need to stick together."

Is this like "now the grown-ups are in charge"?

If this is acting like grown-ups, pigs can fly.

This crappy temper tantrum throwing piece of flotsam misadministration and its friggin' loony PNAC pud-pounders are the farthest things from "grown-ups" I have ever known, read of, heard of, or contemplated.

[aquart]

6. They think EUROPEANS will be upset by that taunt?

I can just see the cartoons with George as a bullying toddler now.

[Frances]

7. Act like grown ups?

This right after Bolton said that France and Germany were chocolate making countries.

Is there any one in this administration who is not a spoiled brat?

[JewelDigger]

4. The kids always know how to rip everything apart and ruin it

...it's so easy to do! The grown-ups do the hard work of preserving, nurturing, creating, and building.

[dfong63]

9. grown-ups exhibit behaviors unknown to bush admin

... such as the ability to say, "I'm sorry, I was wrong," as well as "Please", and "Thank you."

[el_gato]

10. the people on the CFR should be rounded up

and sent to guantanamo