Reaganaut: An Open Letter to President Bush

[Barrett808]

An Open Letter to President Bush
Herbert E. Meyer
Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Dear Mr. President,

I've no idea what your advisers are telling you, but based on my own experience in Washington I suspect they are talking more bluntly among themselves than they are to you. So I'm writing to deliver an unpleasant message you must hear, and hear now: We are in danger of losing the war in Iraq.

To understand why, think back for a moment to what happened in Vietnam. Even as our troops did better and better on the ground – as they killed more and more North Vietnamese and Viet Cong soldiers and secured more and more of South Vietnam itself – support for that war eroded here at home. For example, the Tet offensive was a huge military victory for our forces – but a decisive political defeat in the U.S. Simply put, we didn't lose the Vietnam war in Vietnam. We lost it in Washington.

In just the last week, a ferocious national debate has erupted over the war. Your political enemies have launched a public-relations offensive to convince Americans that we are losing in Iraq. You and members of your administration are responding by arguing that despite the visible setbacks, such as all those horrific bombings in and around Baghdad, the war in Iraq is going well. The truth lies somewhere in between.

In some ways the war really is going well. For example, the new Iraqi government is making a remarkable amount of progress every day, reconstruction projects are forging ahead, and the Iraqi security forces are starting to make their presence felt throughout the country. But in other ways, the war isn't going very well. The level of physical security remains abysmal, and it isn't just those car-bombs and drive-by shootings; it's been more than two years since we overthrew Saddam Hussein's regime, and we still haven't secured the road to Baghdad International Airport.

The honest assessment, which neither your enemies nor your supporters want to publicly offer, is that we are still in the middle of the war – which means it could go either way.

(more)

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/6/28/223106.shtml

[darkism]

1. Is this really NewsMax? n/t

[tubbacheez]

2. Hmm... a pep talk for Shrub.

For better or worse, * won't listen. He's too full of himself and his usual Rove fix.

The next President will inherit primary responsibility for cleaning up this mess.

[newscott]

3. No we probably didn't lose the war in Vietnam.

More like we lost it in Moscow and Beijing.

[nytemare]

4. Ahhhhh, the political tide is turning.

They should have listened to "The American Conservative" who half-heartedly endorsed John Kerry for President. The argument was that Bush would do more damage to the country and conservatism than could be overcome. If the sinking ship is the fault of the Captain, the crew wants to be as far away as possible when it goes down.

http://www.amconmag.com/2004_11_08/cover1.html

[whistle]

5. Was this letter delivered with a signature request, because.....

...there is no way shrub will ever see it otherwise, and even then there is no guarantee he'll read it! Dubya does not want to be confronted with the truth and he certainly would never believe anything that goes against his preconceived ideas and stated intension's. Bush told us, he has a vision from God and that's all he intends to listen to and seek.

[Tempest]

6. Oh, please, please Bush, listen to this guy

It would be political suicide for sure.

Meyer is proposing for Bush to go for the jugular during a time when his approval rating is sinking.

And that's part of the problem, Bush is too aggressive and the people don't like it.