Bush weighs a new course in Iraq

[ixion]

By Warren P. Strobel and John Walcott
Knight Ridder News Service

WASHINGTON -- Alarmed by mounting casualties and staggering costs in Iraq, a growing number of top Bush administration officials have concluded that the current U.S. strategy is unsustainable and are looking for ways to increase United Nations involvement, American officials and foreign diplomats said.
The sharp course corrections under consideration, they said, include creating a multinational U.N. peacekeeping force with continued U.S. military command, giving the world body a larger role in rapidly transferring governance back to Iraqis, and seeking greater international financial contributions.
The proposals would mark a dramatic departure for President Bush and his top aides, who went to war in Iraq without explicit U.N. approval.
None of the proposals has been adopted yet. Officials in the office of Vice President Dick Cheney and some civilian officials who work for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld are resisting any broader international involvement in Iraq, which, in their view, would disrupt plans for a U.S.-initiated remaking of the Middle East.



http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Aug/08292003/nation_w/nation_w.asp

It ought to be interesting to see what sort of malarky they try and pull here...:eyes:

[demnan]

1. Well, what Cheney says, goes

but it will be increasingly difficult for the Bush Administration, especially after this latest car bomb blast today.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

2. Wait... Wasn't it Rummy who earlier told us that the UN was Irrelevant?

So, I guess the boy king will just have to figure out how to do this with the massive "coalition of the willing" he was so proud of building before our invasion of Iraq.

[WilliamPitt]

3. Failure. Absolute and complete failure on all fronts.

Unreal.

[LosinIt]

5. Um, Will, are you going to ever get some sleep?

I work nights so I have an excuse. You have been all over this board all night long. I know you are young and everything, but don't get worn down and make yourself ill. We need you. </mother mode>

[bowens43]

4. Bush needs to go to the UN

and make a public apology to the UN , France, Germany and the multitude of other nations who opposed bushes invasion and occupation of Iraq then maybe if he's very humble they will take this mess off of his hands.

He should have listened to his betters.

[Q]

6. This is exactly what the 'peacenixs' said would happen...

...especially after the Bushies snubbed the UN and called them irrelevant.

- But Georgie's not worried...there has always been someone to bail him out at the last moment while taking the blame.

[MaineDem]

7. I thought the UN...

Gee, now I'm really confused. Didn't the Whistle Ass Administration tell us the UN was an irrelevant debating society? What am I suppossed to think?? Someone tell me quickly. I need my Faux News.

:eyes:

[Gman]

8. The challenge to Bush et al is to put this away BEFORE next year

or else Bush is political dead meat... and they know it very well.

First impressions from the UN appear to be that they are enjoying watching Bush twist slowly in the wind with the rope of Iraq around his neck.

[rock]

9. That pea-brain can only weigh in on something

if he uses scales.

[RedEarth]

10. It will be interesting ....

to see how b... and company spin this. Probably say it was all part of their plan to begin with. Hopefully, the voting public will remember the lies we were fed prior to the war.

[underpants]

17. It wil be hard for them to spin this to their "Base"'s liking

because those people HATE the UN. And you know what happens when you upset your base.

[legin]

11. Well

if bush* wants UN involvement in Iraq, I want the neo-cons + Chenny + Rumsfeld gone from his government, I fail to see why I should reward idiocy.

[DrBB]

12. This is a lose-lose for UN....

I put on my Karl Rove hat--ow, that hurts, moral compass...veering wildly...shutting down... ethics... going... numb.... Ah!--and here's how I'd expect to play it: we make some superficial "concession" to get the UN in there but in reality there ain't no way we're going to release any substantive control over Iraq's resources and political fate. If they'll come in under those conditions, fine. If not, then once again THEY become the bad guy. We asked 'em nice 'n' they still wouldn't clean up our mess for us, even though they and all them libruls kept saying "Get the UN in there!" Comes down to it, they're just hypocritical cowards and it's THEIR fault everything's going to hell over there. They refused to help and we're left just trying to do the best we can like the Lone Cowboy out there in the desert. Whatever harsh measures we find ourselves having to impose, it'll be their fault not ours. This is the implicit scenario we present, and like good libruls/internationalists, the UN won't want to see all that suffering just because they didn't want the US to walk away with all the goodies, so they'll take whatever face-saving concession Cheney offers and play along.

This is a typical criminal extortion bargain--we have no morals and you do, so you have to play ball or we'll make sure things keep getting nastier for the innocents until you go along with us.

Removing Rove hat--NO! YOU DARE NOT!--yes, ugh, unh--NO! I FORBID IT!--yes, urgh, moral compass... stabilizing.... stabilizing... NO! PUNY HUMAN I FORBID IT! I FORBID---AAAAaaaaaahhhh.....

Phew! Gotta go take a shower now.

[underpants]

16. Very good but will the UN trust us after the "No automaticity" thing

Remember Negroponte running around telling the other Security Council members that there was not "auotmaticity" in 1441? They thought it was very strangely worded and he assured them that nothing would automatically trigger an invasion.

Then BAM the missiles (I believe) were said to be direct violations (some questions there but the Iraqis relented as they always do) and cause for military action.

AS I will post above this is going to be a hard sell to his base who HATE the UN. The #1 Rove rule is "Don't upset the base". Tough to spin this but you Rove hat was pretty close to what I would expect.

[Neutrino]

13. Paul Krugman (NYT) on the Neocons handling of Iraq:

"Someday, when the grown-ups are back in charge, they'll
have quite a mess to clean up".

(Wow, that's putting it mildly.)

[AlabamaYankee]

14. declare victory and go home

Isn't that the Bush* way? when the going gets tough, run away from the problem and do something else

[NNN0LHI]

18. The Bush way is to scream Daddy! Get me out of another mess n/t

[bushisanidiot]

19. Absolutely, The Only Way Out of Iraq is Through N. Korea

N. Korea will suddenly become the important issue early next year, so we'll pull out of Iraq then. And those who claim that we're abandoning the Iraqi's will again be called anti-american for not supporting AWOL's new war..

[Spazito]

15. I was just thinking why Bush thinks the UN...

would even consider saving his ass but then I remembered that his ass has been pulled out of the fire by his daddy, his daddy's friends, etc, so it makes a weird kind of sense, given Bush's infantile thinking processes, that the UN will do the same. Ain't gonna happen, baby Bush, even daddy can't save your ass here!

[htuttle]

20. Bush looking for a new strategy...

...but he ain't findin' it for some reason...

[underpants]

21. My goodness I can see night time on the horizon

It sure is going to be dark tonight there General.

[NoKingGeorge]

22. Awol is not deciding anything

awol does not direct or decide anything. It is deceptive to say * is changing course. Should read Rove or Cheney is changing course (or poppy).

[MaineDem]

23. Oh my!!!

I should know better than to read this at the same time as taking a drink. :7

That's one of the funniest things I've ever seen!

[RedEarth]

24. Great picture!!!!!!!

b.... playing soldier again. I guess he was awol when they had a class on how to use binoculars.