Mark Shields on The NewsHour: If this is as big as WWII, then

[Ilsa]

why doesn't Bush fight the war in Iraq to win? Why doesn't he have more troops and equipment there?

I am paraphrasing, but I think he may have also hit on the subject of taxes. If this is a huge ideological war, then why isn't he raising taxes, especially on those that got cuts, to fund this war?

David Brooks couldn't disagree with his assessment.

[GOPBasher]

1. I especially like the tax question. n/t

[MissWaverly]

3. why didn't he raise taxes &

why did he fight the war with IOUs from China, that seemed a boneheaded thing to do, just imagine buying a car and expecting your grandkids to pay for it.

[MissWaverly]

2. I love Mark Shields & donate to PBS for this show, snip below

MARK SHIELDS: Speeches. The president's speeches. The president said, in particularly the Salt Lake City speech, that this was the ideological battle of the 21st century, the battle of Iraq, upon its outcome and victory there, dependent victory in the battle of the war against terrorism.

If that's true, what the hell are we doing with 130,000 troops there? We ought to have half a million. Why haven't we mobilized the home front? Why aren't we paying for this? I mean, why, seriously, isn't the country on a war-footing, if that's really what he's talking about?
And comparing this to battle against communism, the Cold War, and comparing it to the battle against Nazism? I mean, to me, you're making a statement like that, and then you just totally contradict yourself by saying, "We're going to continue with this failed policy and this failed approach."

JIM LEHRER: What about that, David?
DAVID BROOKS:
“...Mark's point is perfectly valid, though. If it's that big, why aren't we fighting to win? Why aren't we committing 80 percent of the troops necessary to do the job?”

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/july-dec06/sb_09-01.html

[Ilsa]

7. Thank you! I hadn't looked for it because I didn't think it would

posted yet on thier website. Great snip.

[MissWaverly]

8. Yes, and those with broadband can watch the clips

I am still with slow poke dial-up.

[Lars39]

4. Slightly OT: Shields was a Marine.

"A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Mark then served as an enlisted man in the Marines."

http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:UDp0f5KQzu0J:www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/politics/political_wrap/bio_shields.html+Mark+Shields+enlisted&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=firefox-a

[Ilsa]

6. I remember that. He and Jim Lehrer can both speak with

some experience and authority on the Marines. In fact, when there were several other headline stories about the Marines, good or bad, they both seemed to have a very personal take on it.

[Cha]

5. Outstanding point, Mark Shields..

Why is it a sneaky warfare on Iraq?

[lonestarnot]

9. Not hard to find points displaying the idiocy of bushitler, it's in the

pointing where the difficulty lies. Good on Mark Shields!