Our Man Maliki
Go get the militias! Disband them now.
Secure the population!
Distribute the oil!
Reconciliation now!
Onward redeployments.
Okay, now that we have those points settled, it\’s on to victory! Ha-zaah.
But the new plan depends on the good intentions and competence of a Shiite-dominated Iraqi government that has not demonstrated an abundant supply of either.
“Everybody raises a question about the intentions and capability of this government,” a senior American official said, referring to the Iraqi government. “Is this a government that really is a unity government or is it in fact pursuing, either explicitly or implicitly, a Shia hegemony agenda?”
But honestly, Bush telegraphed what the real message would be in last night\’s
speech when he appointed Admiral
Fallon. I know, I\’ve been harping on it for days.
Iran.
Seek out and destroy.
If there\’s anything in the President Bush\’s remarks tonight that we didn\’t
already know or didn\’t anticipate him saying militarily about Iraq, it is
his evident willingness to go to war with Syria and Iran to seek peace.
… and Syria, though Asad is simply a follower.
But in the end, after listening to Mr. Bush\’s dead, uninspiring, weak and badly
written speech last night, you have to wonder what the troops are thinking.
It wasn\’t a rallying cry. It wasn\’t even a bugle to believe again. It was a
last ditch effort to drag our sorry foreign policy out of the Arabian abyss
through the laying down of their lives. If you were heading towards
your third redeployment, how would you feel? One can only imagine the anxiety
of the families. Thomas Ricks, author of FIASCO, said a mouthful last night on Charlie Rose. No one he\’s
talked to in the military thinks this will work. In fact, the military is done;
there\’s no more there there.
Bush to troops: SUCK. IT. UP.
As for We the People, Mr. Bush could care less what we think or want or voted
on.
As for Congress, Mr. Bush wants them to either offer a better idea or shut up
and get behind him. You want a plan? No escalation. That clear enough for you?
Andrew Sullivan
offers his conservative view.
Joe
Gandelman has his perspective.
Will Bunch offers an LBJ – GWB comparison that is just eerie (h/t).
But in the end, it was the quiet words of Senator Durbin delivering the Democratic
rebuttal to Mr. Bush\’s speech that rang out in the night.
“The Iraqis must understand that they alone can lead their
nation to freedom. They alone must meet the challenges that lie ahead. And
they must know that every time they call 9-1-1 we are not going to send 20,000
more American soldiers.”
We are not the world\’s 9-1-1 emergency service. That role is over.
Maliki, you\’re up, pal.
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