President Bush on Iraq: No, Let's Stay Forever

Once again the media gets all excited over the President's latest diplomatic adventure as if it means anything, and once again the President surprises no thinking person when he just says the same things he's been saying for years, no matter what pesky facts get in his way.

AP: Bush says U.S. won't pull out of Iraq

President Bush, under pressure to change direction in Iraq, said Tuesday he will not be persuaded by any calls to withdraw American troops before the country is stabilized...

Translation: We'll stay forever. An indefinite occupation. Just what the electorate ordered... oh, wait.

He's going to drag this out for the remainder of his presidency and then leave the growing mess for the next guy to clean up. This has been his official policy for over nine months now. And he will use the 'independent' recommendations of the Baker commission to enable this somehow, I am sure of it.

More-

Bush said he will ask al-Maliki to explain his plan for quelling the violence.

See, the President wants to stay so that can he save face. But he still doesn't have a plan ('National Strategy for Victory' is soooo 2005), nor does he want to get his hands dirty. Just tell Maliki to fix it. Somehow. But we're not gonna leave. No. Bush wants us there when Maliki pulls the stability rabbit out of his hat.

More still-

Bush pushed back against skeptics of his goal of spreading freedom across the Middle East. "I understand these doubts but I do not share them," the president said.

Okay, so you're still delusional. That's a little disconcerting, but thanks for confirming.

More again-

Earlier Tuesday, Bush blamed the escalating bloodshed in Iraq on an al-Qaida plot to stoke cycles of sectarian revenge, and refused to debate whether the country has fallen into civil war.

So, he's blaming al-Qaida (which he's just using as shorthand for any violence he can't explain) for Iraq's internal sectarian problems. The same al-Qaida that wasn't in Iraq until we invaded it? For the same sectarian problems that no architect of this war made any attempts to understand before they swung at the beehive with their big, expensive bats? Okay then. Umm, Chris at Americablog, can you take this one? "Call Iraq 'civil war', call it 'sectarian violence' call it what you like, but to blame it all on al Qaiada is just another example of why Bush does not and will not get it. He is unable to see that Iraq has crossed the tipping point, that things have changed for the worse. If he is unable to see what everyone else sees how does anyone expect that he can turn around his final two years in office?"

Thanks. And I can add 'worst President ever'?

Why do I feel like that I have written this exact same entry at least a dozen times before? Because I have. Why do I feel like I will be writing it a dozen more times in the next two years? Because I will.

I know that the Democrats want to be nice and bipartisan and not be super crazy like the Republicans have been (and god bless 'em for it), but they really will have to hit the President hard on this issue. They are not dealing with a sensible man-- he is man who believes he is on a divine quest to bring democracy to the Middle East, no matter how many people have to die along the way. Or until 2009, when he's off the clock at last.

Playing nice and reaching across aisles is fantastic for issues like the mininum wage and immigration and global warming and healthcare, but not this war. They won this election in large part because the people on the other side of the aisle have so lost touch with reality. They may get back in touch with it sometime down the line, sure, but they have yet to do so. And so our new congressional leaders will have to risk sticking their necks out here; otherwise, all the legislative accomplishments they get passed will be continuously overshadowed by the ugly little war that would not end.

This election was about putting America back on the right track. One big thing to get out of the way first.

[Semi-related PS: There was a good discussion on KCRW's 'To The Point' yesterday (podcast- here), the kind you never hear on cable news. Episode dated 11/27; titled 'Violence and Diplomacy in the Middle East'.]