Now that the Senate has also passed a bill that sets a timetable for US withdrawal from Iraq, we are going to hear a lot of noise from Bush and company, and their ideological defenders in the media, about how Congress is somehow responsible for the debacle there. Don't believe it. If there is one clear truth that has emerged from the whole sorry and sordid affair, it is that Bush lost the war.
He lost it from the beginning, when he made a faulty judgment, based on faulty intelligence and shaped by faulty advisers, and accepted a "strategy" (the sloppiness of the thinking hardly deserves that description) for a quick and cheap invasion.
He lost it with his incapacity to recognize that the lack of control on the ground in the immediate aftermath of the fall of Baghdad signaled serious trouble ahead.
He lost it when his lack of foresight blinded him to the emerging insurgency.
He lost it when he embraced torture, undermining US legitimacy in Iraq and worldwide.
He lost it in the myriad policy failures, from the disbanding of the Iraqi army to the effective support for Shia militias, that have driven the country into civil war.
And he lost it, most ignominiously, in the betrayal of the many Iraqis who risked their lives trying to help the US.
Confucius tells us that our actions speak louder than our words. He tells us to look into ourselves when we face difficulties or failures. Analects 1.4 says:
Every day I examine myself on three counts. In what I have undertaken on another's behalf, have I failed to do my best? In my dealings with my friends have I failed to be trustworthy in what I say? Have I passed on to others anything that I have not tried out myself?'
For a president perhaps it should read "constituents" or "citizens" instead of "friends" - and then we should ask: has Bush been trustworthy in what he has said?
"There is no greater disaster than to underestimate your enemy." the Lao Tzu
Posted by: Elisabeth's Mom | March 29, 2007 at 11:54 PM
This is a bit old, but I just found it:
"I was quite taken by three words the president uttered: the war 'can be won.' What a far cry that is from 'mission accomplished.'"
-- Tim Russert, quoted by The Hotline, on President Bush's 3/19 address (from Political Wire)
Posted by: Chris | March 31, 2007 at 10:09 PM
Hi friend,
I urge every American to see the movie "no end in sight". This is a factual retelling of how Bush and his little band of followers THREW AWAY ALL CHANCE OF SECURING IRAQ WITH THE HELP OF THE THOUSANDS OF TROOPS WHO WERE WAITING TO SECURE THE GOVERNMENT TREASURES, GUARD THE MUNITIONS, AND PREVENT CHAOS.
wHAT A WASTE!
We almost won!
Len+
Posted by: len | September 25, 2007 at 01:29 AM