The Iraqis return to vote on the Constitution (you know, the one where women get less rights than under Saddam) on October 15. A recent CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll in found that 59 percent of people surveyed considered the 2003 invasion of Iraq a mistake, 63 percent said they wanted to see some or all U.S. troops withdrawn, and only 32 percent approved of Bush’s handling of the conflict. And remember those 3 Iraqi battalions out of 104 that were ready to fight on their own? Turns out it’s only 1. 1 battalion, 750 troops, that can fight independent of US support.
With that kind of bad news, it’s time for Chimpy to remind us all that Iraq is the central battlefront on the War on Nouns Tactics Terrah…
(CNN) During a speech billed by the White House as a major policy address, Bush said if U.S. forces withdraw from Iraq, insurgents would “use the vacuum created by an American retreat to gain control of a country, a base from which to launch attacks and conduct their war against nonradical Muslim governments.”
Which is what Islamic radicals were trying to do before we invaded Iraq, but Saddam kept them pretty well under control.
“We’re not facing a set of grievances” that can be negotiated, Bush said.
“We’re facing a radical ideology with an unalterable objective, to enslave whole nations and intimidate the whole world,” he said.
You know, like the Communists! Why, if we leave Vietnam now, all of Southeast Asia will fall to Communism, like tumbling dominoes. No, wait, we did leave Vietnam and that didn’t happen. Please, continue:
Bush indicated that the public is unaware of many anti-terrorism victories. He said the United States and its allies have disrupted 10 al Qaeda terrorism plots since September 11, 2001, including three inside the United States.
The White House said the U.S. incidents Bush was referring to include a 2003 plot to blow up a New York bridge and the case of Jose Padilla, who is being held by the military as an enemy combatant. Padilla is accused of plotting with al Qaeda to set off a radioactive “dirty bomb.” (Full Story)
Details of a third case could not be revealed due to their classified nature, the White House said.
Great! I’m all for foiled terrorist plots. Now, tell me, Flightsuit, how many of those plots were busted by illegally invading a sovereign nation? How many of them were foiled by good old fashioned detective work?
Bush said the war has not caused hatred of the United States among radical Muslims or global terror attacks, but rather is an “excuse” to further the goal of creating an Islamic state across the Mideast.
Oh, great, thanks for giving already-pissed off radicals an excuse to attack! And I’m wondering, if the war didn’t cause the hatred, then what did? Oh, yeah, they hate us for our freedoms (because we’re the only free democracy in the world, donchaknow). It couldn’t be us supporting dictatorial oppressive Muslim theocracies, placing our military bases in their holy lands, and supporting the oppressive policies of the Israelis against the Palestinians, could it? Well, surely the thing that will cure that hatred is bombing the hell out of them and letting them see the blood of their spouses and children in the streets.
“The militants believe that controlling one country will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow all moderate governments in the region and establish a radical Islamic empire that spans from Spain to Indonesia,” Bush said.
“The hatred of the radicals existed before Iraq was an issue,” Bush said. “And it will exist after Iraq is no longer an excuse.”
“No act of ours invited the rage of the killers, and no conscience, bribe or act of appeasement will change or limit their plans for murder.”
Maybe so. Therefore, it would be a swell idea to capture or kill their leader, don’t you think?
Also, let’s consider that the truly hardcore radicals can never be swayed and only death will cease their rage against America. So wouldn’t it be a good idea to isolate them, to not swell their ranks by swaying the masses who are “on the fence” against the country that invaded and bombed them?
Responding to the president’s address, the Senate Minority Whip, Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, said the speech left too many questions about the Iraq war unanswered.
“He owes it to the American people — and the Democrats are calling on him to tell the American people — how will this end? How can we measure success? How can we get beyond the generalities of the speech that we heard today?” Durbin said.
“I believe the president has offered America a false choice between resolve and retreat,” Durbin said. “The real choice is between the strategy of accountability and more vague generalities. We must move beyond the policies of fear to a forceful commitment to protect the United States and its values.”
Why, Senator, it’ll take as long as it takes, it’ll cost as much as it costs, and it’ll take however many American deaths as it takes! You’re supposed to just trust the president on this one. Oh, sure, they said we’ll be greeted as liberators, it’ll be over in six months, the country can pay for its own reconstruction, and few troops would have to die… but that’s so yesterday’s news.
Here’s the news, folks: it’s not designed to end. War is profitable. Terror is useful. As he said, “The hatred of the radicals existed before Iraq was an issue, and it will exist after Iraq is no longer an excuse.” Even if the other 103 Iraqi battalions were ready to fight independently tomorrow, we’d still be there. There will always be some “radical” who hates America, and who goes about blowing something up to prove it. And the more people we kill, the more places we invade, the more people will grow up to hate us. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.
