"Bush's reaction was...familiar in its contempt...depressing in its lack of contact with reality."

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT editorial: Legislating Leadership on Iraq
Published: March 29, 2007

This week it was the Senate’s turn. Like the House last week and the voters last November, the Senate made clear Tuesday that Americans expect to see the disaster in Iraq brought to an early and responsible end.

President Bush’s reaction was instantaneous, familiar in its contempt for views that do not follow his in lockstep, and depressing in its lack of contact with reality. Mr. Bush threatened to veto the spending bill needed for this year’s military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan rather than accept language calling for most American combat troops to be withdrawn from Iraq sometime next year. Nor was there any hint of his own prescription for ending this war.

Mr. Bush, his advisers and his loyalists on Capitol Hill threw up a cloud of propaganda aimed at making Americans think there is a debate going on between those who want to win the war and those who want to lose. That’s nonsense, and the White House knows it. Mr. Bush’s inadequate response was a cynical attempt to portray the Democrats and moderate Republicans who voted with the majority as indifferent to the political future of Iraq and to the morale of American soldiers stationed there....

***

Both dates are far enough off to allow for a responsible exit. Even more important is the effort to press Mr. Bush to use remaining American leverage to nudge the Iraqi government away from its worst instincts. Passing new laws on pooling oil revenues, easing restrictions on former Baath Party members and reducing the frightening power that Shiite militias now wield in local and national police forces is fine. But Congress must also make sure the White House insists that legal changes are translated into a qualitatively different reality on the ground. That is the only course that can possibly rescue Iraq from civil war.

That pressure will be forthcoming only if Congress insists on it. Otherwise, Mr. Bush will continue to settle for half-hearted assurances from Baghdad and try to quash any thinking about a responsible exit strategy until he leaves office in 22 months.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/opinion/29thu1.html

[Hekate]

1. Kick this

:kick:

Hekate

[riverdeep]

2. He's playing the I broke it, you bought it ploy.

He breaks our country, hell, throw another country, and gets to walk away. Meanwhile, actual adults in charge will have to go about fixing these things. I don't think we will even really know the full extent of how bad things are in this gov in general until we get in there and have access for ourselves. They're hiding all kinds of spending. It's not going to be pretty.

[cassiepriam]

7. Bingo. The damage is far deeper and worse than we can even imagine.

The truth of all of it will not come out til they are gone.

Welcome to DU!

[xchrom]

3. ...depressing in its lack of contact with reality."

a fairly succinct description of his whole tenure.

[babylonsister]

4. Whoa, can't get much more honest than that; I hope they have a

banner day in sales and people will take this ed. to heart. NOM. for honesty!

[CrazyOrangeCat]

5. K&R

22 months is too long.

lot more women, children, elderly are going to get ground under the wheels of war. Iraq is destroyed, Boy-King. You're the worst thing to ever slouch down the pike.

Somebody's going to have to impeach you. Real soon.

[DeepModem Mom]

12. Running out the clock, with peoples' lives. I couldn't get that out of my head...

after posting this.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

13. Yes.

Those who think there is a "moderate" approach to this abomination . . . are out of their mofo minds.

[Canuckistanian]

6. K&R

[The Count]

8. Interesting how the title takes off on the Faux smear

[saltpoint]

9. Terrific excerpt, well-chosen. Thanks for posting this.

It is the heart of the problem with George W. Bush's presidency.

[Kolesar]

10. Iraqi politicians...paying lip service to...reconciliation while working hard to undermine it .

Instead, he has handed a blank check to a government of divisive Iraqi politicians adept at paying lip service to national reconciliation while working hard to undermine it in practice.

[WyLoochka]

11. They never intended to leave Iraq

Hence, the permanent mega bases. Why doesn't the NYT address that?

The perfect time for the US to hand Iraq over to the Iraqi's was almost four long years ago, the day doofus strutted on that aircraft carrier.

Had they wanted to leave -ever- all he had to do was say something like: "We are handing a "Husseinless" Iraq over to the Iraqi's today and call upon the international community to come here and help them rebuild with a Marshall like plan, which we will help with and support in any way we can. Until the Iraqi police force is up and running, we will hand that function over to the blue helmets from the UN, and we will back them up with cash and some trained police and we call upon other countries to do the same. We will be bringing our military forces home, starting today."

But that would have closed the door on the wanton war profiteering opportunities for their cronies and the posssibility of controlling the real prizes, which were the goals all along - the oil, water and real estate.