Another Failed Promise

Today I heard that our President is breaking yet another promise to the American people. Just a few weeks ago right after the midterms he promised to listen to and consider the recommendations of the Iraq Study Commission when they are released on Dec. 6. Today he said he will not consider any of them unless they echo his current failed policy there. So much for the value of a presidential promise.

Bush maintains that he will allow only total victory in a situation where his commanders have told him point-blank that such a victory is impossible. Why is it impossible? Mostly because of the incredible level of bungling on the part of both Mr. Bush and the members of his administration. He knew even before he picked this war, that he was committing insufficient troops. The first Mr. Bush used 500,000 troops merely to drive Saddam out of Kuwait with no intention of toppling him from power and attempting to pacify the country. Why then did the second Mr. Bush think he could do three times as much with about half the troops?

The problem is that the current Mr. Bush is totally out of touch with reality. He truly believed and still believes it possible to establish a stable democracy in the region. When things started going wrong almost immediately (the violence and looting) he ignored it. When the insurgency began he ignored it. When the sectarian violence started he ignored it. He ignored every time there was a chance to actually make a step toward his stated goal. He stuck his fingers in his ears and screamed "stay the course" to drown out the cries of the dying and the wailing of their survivors.

Now he's done it once again. He's closed the door to possibly the only solution left to us, yet he's equally unwilling to do anything that might make the situation in Iraq any better. By doing so I fear he's opened wide the door to the spectacle of another Saigon with out people leaving in disorder and leaving the country to fall into the hands of radicals and extremists.