http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/gallagher319.htmlTROOP SURGE ANOTHER BUSH BLUNDER
By Bill Gallagher
"To disregard what the world thinks of us is not only arrogant but utterly shameless." -- Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman statesman.
DETROIT -- President George W. Bush ignores what most of the world and most of the American people think. He is content in the cocoon of his arrogance and utterly shameless about his isolation.
With 18 months remaining in his disastrous presidency, Bush is capable of bringing more harm to our nation and more war to he world. He is oblivious to failure, unwilling even to consider that his judgments and decisions may be flawed.
After rejecting all the major strategies and initiatives outlined in the bipartisan Iraq Study Group Report, Bush turned to his "gut" and the neocon nuts who created the fiasco in the first place.
Bush -- with Vice President Dick Cheney always whispering into his ear -- unveiled the surge strategy. When the top military leaders in Iraq opposed more troops, arguing the surge wouldn't work and would result in more casualties, they were replaced.
Bush relied on his instincts, his visceral vision. More violence, he concluded, would quell the violence. Besides, Bush's brilliant strategy has confined the terrorists. He warned us with his mantra: "We're fighting them there, so we don't have to fight them here."
Well, now a Pentagon report shows the troop buildup is not stemming the violence but is increasing casualties for U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians. "Commander guy" is wrong again, and his serial mistakes are paid for with more bloodshed and suffering.
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Adding to the already-promiscuous violence in the Middle East, Bush and the other crazies want to create more hostility toward the United States. There is an ancient Arabian proverb: "Arrogance diminishes wisdom." With his supreme arrogance, George W. Bush is devoid of wisdom, and thus the world and our nation are in great peril.