If this is all bu$h could come up with, we are in for a world of hurt for 3 more years!! He has got to go!!
Posted by bbtb at November 30, 2005 12:40 PMIt was just a rehash of everything that he has already said 100 times. He has no plans to ever leave Iraq. He will destroy the military and ruin our country before he even thinks of leaving Iraq.
Posted by Ga6thDem at November 30, 2005 01:00 PMCome on, now. It's clearly a "PLAN FOR VICTORY", can't you see the sign?
What more do you need to know?
He's doin' the presidentin', don't you worry none about destroyin' the miltary and ruinin' the country.
At least the American People got a SIGN with a Plan for Victory.
That's progress!
Posted by euzoius at November 30, 2005 01:07 PMIs it me or are the stage settings for Bush's speeches getting more monumetal in scale each time he speaks? The picture in the previous post is reminiscent of the vainglorious productions put on by our one time enemies in the 1930's and 40's. Bush's rhetoric is equally triumphant.
Posted by katjam at November 30, 2005 01:08 PMkatjam - seems to me as if they are looking more and more like that 1992 GOP convention stage that at a visceral level suggested Nazi rally imagery.
Posted by Marie at November 30, 2005 01:14 PMAnd, once he's achieved victory, Iraq will have a theocratic government, similar to Iran's, will be controlled by Shia death squads who will torture and kill just as many Iraqis as Saddam did, and will be just as hostile to the US and Israel as Saddam's regime. Great news, isn't it?
Posted by Walldon in NJ at November 30, 2005 01:20 PMGreat news, isn't it?
Well at least it didn't cost us a lot!
Posted by snark at November 30, 2005 01:28 PMWalldon in NJ - GWB's definition of "victory" includes (but isn't stated) the installation of a new government(regime) that knows how to work with Bush's oil and other corporate buddies. All the rest you lay out is fine as long Bu$hCo can still do bidness with them. Otherwise, it's not a "victory" and we're not leaving unless Bush and the GOP is out of the WH
Posted by Marie at November 30, 2005 01:32 PMRent the DVD "Downfall" if you want an idea of what life in Bushtopia is like right about now.
Total.
Fucking.
Disconnect.
Posted by God Of War at November 30, 2005 02:09 PM
george bush is on his way out of iraq. by next spring the number of soldiers actively in combat, and therefore the number killed or wonded, will have dropped greatly. there may even have been some substantial numbers returned to the u.s.
today's bush oration was typical misdirection. he talked tough and vowed to hang tough, but that was merely to cover the retreat that is coming.
all of bush's actions are for his political benefit and only his political benefit -- his beliefs in liberty, democracy, god or what have you are always subordinate to his political well-being. until the public's unhappiness with his iraq "policy" has been remedied, bush will remain politically weak. the only reasonable way to alleviate this is to withdraw american soldiers from engagement.
i think it makes most sense to describe bush's "victory" speech using a reworking of marshall mccluhan's famous phrase -- for bush, the speech is the message. by this i mean that the act of giving the speech is what counts. the specific content of the speech is unimportant. thus, it was given at ten in the a.m. and it borrowed from past speeches (as do many of his other speeches), but so what. after all, what is the point of developing and delivering new rhetoric when it is only your claim about the speech that will be part of future public "debate"?
in a political climate where most adults to do not have any interest in the details of this (or any other) political speech and in which print and electronic media feel no responsiblity to accurately describe or critically evaluate his public comments, it is only necessary for bush to have given the speech. then, in the future, he has only to reference his own 20-second-sound-bite-summary of his "victory" speech.
Posted by orionATL at November 30, 2005 02:21 PMA friend of mine at DoD in Washington emailed me today, saying that any US troop withdrawals in Iraq will be offset by Blackwater goons. This administration is simply beyond belief.
Posted by tempus at November 30, 2005 02:42 PMDoes it upset anyone else that George wastes the time of cops, firefighters, soldiers, border patrol officers, etc. by using them as captive props for his lame political speeches? We pay those people's salaries, and I would much prefer that they be out doing what they are paid to do instead of being adoring puppets for the Smirk Jerk. If the truth were known, I'm sure they would prefer that, too.
Posted by PretzelsOne at November 30, 2005 03:26 PMAlthough I have not had a chance to read "The Plan for Victory", I am assuming that total victory is still defined as a crushed enemy either disbanding or agreeing to terms and accepting responsibility for their agression. However, it seems that terms that were sought by the administration for the adoption of the Iraqi Constitution and for the elections were significantly altered by the Iraqis. Furthermore, the Iranians have gotten more of what they wanted in the post-war scenario than we have.
Did the United States, in fact, already lose the war?
obelus - the answer is "yes." Murtha remains a warhawk but there's nothing wrong with his sense of smell. Or maybe it became fine-tuned in Vietnam. He would never have turned on this thing if he weren't smelling the defeat.
orionATL - have to disagree. Bu$hCo may be setting up for a mock withdrawal to get them through the 2006 elections, but they will never leave if they don't have their puppet in place as long as they still have a choice in the matter.
Posted by Marie at November 30, 2005 04:31 PMI'm with orionATL:
This "Plan for Victory" nonsense is cover for the pull out which is being arranged as we speak.
The cover is going to be "successful elections" and "the Iraqi forces have now stood up". Neither will be true, but it won't matter. We'll be out.
That's what was going on at the Arab League conference in Cairo last week as well as with everyone's favorite felon, Ahmad Chalabi, who was in DC reporting on how his visit to Tehran went: We're cutting a deal with the Sunnis and the Iranians -- a de facto cease - fire so we can flee at speed.
The withdrawal, per Karl's directives, will be driven by the domestic political calendar: we'll be below 100,000 in country by the first Tuesday of November, 2006 and down to two or brigades stationed in Kuwait by the first Tuesday of November, 2008.
As many have said, Iraq is Vietnam on Speed. We've now reached the early '70's and the Paris peace talks.
Posted by fbg46 at November 30, 2005 04:31 PMTime to cut out the funding for Iraq.
Posted by Judith at November 30, 2005 05:09 PMBush is not leaving. The gang of criminals have fought for years to be right where they are, and to think that they are giving up now is naive.
Posted by Judith at November 30, 2005 05:18 PMfbg46: The withdrawal, per Karl's directives, will be driven by the domestic political calendar: we'll be below 100,000 in country by the first Tuesday of November, 2006
Not exactly my idea of a "pull out." That still leaves 100,000 in the shooting gallery a year from now.
Posted by Marie at November 30, 2005 05:26 PMThere is only one way to get bush out of Iraq.
IMPEACHMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by smooth at November 30, 2005 06:21 PMMarie:
That's the point. If they cut the deal it looks like they're trying to, -- a cease -fire -- the place won't be a shooting gallery next year and we can leave without worrying too much about getting shot up on the way out.
The hinky part is the answer to the question: What can Big Time and Karl offer the Sunnis? If it's not enough there won't be a cease -fire and then all bets are off.
But if it is enough and a cease - fire (hidden behind some verbal smokescreens about "successful elections" and "lots of Iraqi forces standing up") goes into effect, it allows Karl to peg the speed of the withdrawal to our electoral calendar.
Posted by fbg46 at November 30, 2005 06:25 PMI we aren't talking about impeachment, we are kidding ourselves. Impeachment is the only way out of this mess. If candidates aren't advocating impeachment, we should not vote for them.
Posted by smooth at November 30, 2005 06:26 PM"Nothing Less Than Complete Victory" is a major diversion. It changes the dialog from the "lies that justified this fiasco" to "more of the same propaganda warmed over". Don't let these clowns change the subject. We have to demand that these clowns are held accountable for the lies that justified this mess. The only way to get to the bottom of what happen is to hold impeachment hearings. We got to dump the republicans and complicit democrats to make this happen.
Posted by smooth at November 30, 2005 06:33 PMRichard Clark said tonight on Charlie Rose that some people in the WH want a long term war. He further stated that when we leave, the wind will go out of the sails of the insurgents, and what is left can be taken care of by the Iraqis.
The CIA wants to get out of the business of prisons, and therefore, it has been the CIA that has been leaking the truth about our secret prisons all over the world, according to Clark.
Posted by Judith at November 30, 2005 10:14 PMBy-the-way, General Pace didn't seem to think we were leaving anytime soon, and he definitely said it would not be next year. In fact, he couldn't guarantee it would be in two or five years from now. Again, we are not leaving.
Posted by Judith at November 30, 2005 10:20 PMas a former marine, pace is a whore. apace with murtha.
i know, some of you think that murtha ennobled himself. he didn't. he should have been saying this a long time ago. and when the vote came for immediate withdrawl, he should have voted for that. sadly, just another dem hack.
murtha may still be a reserve kernal. he needs to take off the insignia and resign.
and so should pace.
step up to some semblance of honor.
live up to the standard of david monroe shoup.
oh, these bushit clowns will never leave iraq. why? because they are crazier than the mad hatter.
and there will be no elections in 2008. george intends to stay until his war is won. martial law will be declared. after that, the impressment for military servitude.
mark my words. you don't begin to understand how greedy and crazy these republicans, and their democrat enablers, are.
Posted by albertchampion at December 1, 2005 12:33 AM"you don't begin to understand how greedy and crazy these republicans, and their democrat enablers, are."
Albertchampion, I think we do know how crazy these people are, as we have written about some of the same fears on this blog, from martial law to no elections in '08. We have singled out Democrats who have turned against our Party and will fight to see that they are not re-elected. Almost without exception, those we elected have failed us. They will have to live with the deaths of Americans the rest of their lives. That is assuming that some of them are capable of regret and have a conscious. No one here will disagree that those who are now standing up should have found their voice long before now. I have said this for a year or more now, but I believe that the only way to stop this madness is to take to the streets in America in mass and continued demonstrations until Bush is impeached and the War is ended. Blogs certainly have their place in getting the truth to people, but lets not replace demonstrations and protests with blogs. There is nothing like the visual image of hundred of thousands of Americans standing up and saying NO MORE.
Posted by Judith at December 1, 2005 04:43 AMExcellent work, and awesome links! Hope you don’t mind me linking you!
Posted by Work at home at December 17, 2005 05:08 PMWork at home - link away.
Posted by Marie at December 20, 2005 10:35 AM