Neo-realism

[Bottomfeeder 244]

NeoCon allies desert Bush over Iraq

These are the right-wing intellectuals who demanded George Bush invade Iraq. Now they admit they got it wrong. Are you listening, Mr President?

Published: 09 March 2006

William Buckley Jnr

INFLUENTIAL CONSERVATIVE COLUMNIST AND TV PUNDIT

'One can't doubt the objective in Iraq has failed ... Iraqi animosities have proved uncontainable by an army of 130,000 Americans. Different plans have to be made. And the kernel here is the acknowledgement of defeat.'

Francis Fukuyama

AUTHOR AND LONG-TERM ADVOCATE OF TOPPLING SADDAM

'By invading Iraq, the Bush administration created a self-fulfilling prophecy: Iraq has now replaced Afghanistan as a magnet, a training ground and an operational base for jihadists, with plenty of American targets to shoot at.'

Richard Perle

ARCH-WARMONGER AND PIVOTAL REPUBLICAN HAWK

'The military campaign and its political aftermath were both passionately debated within the Bush administration. It got the war right and the aftermath wrong We should have understood that we needed Iraqi partners.'

Andrew Sullivan

PROMINENT COMMENTATOR AND INFLUENTIAL BLOGGER

'The world has learnt a tough lesson, and it has been a lot tougher for those tens of thousands of dead, innocent Iraqis ... than for a few humiliated pundits. The correct response is not more spin but a sense of shame and sorrow.'

George Will

RIGHT-WING COLUMNIST ON 'THE WASHINGTON POST' AND TV PUNDIT

'Almost three years after the invasion, it is still not certain whether, or in what sense, Iraq is a nation. And after two elections and a referendum on the constitution, Iraq barely has a government.'

William Buckley Jnr

INFLUENTIAL CONSERVATIVE COLUMNIST AND TV PUNDIT

'One can't doubt the objective in Iraq has failed ... Iraqi animosities have proved uncontainable by an army of 130,000 Americans. Different plans have to be made. And the kernel here is the acknowledgement of defeat.'

Francis Fukuyama

AUTHOR AND LONG-TERM ADVOCATE OF TOPPLING SADDAM

'By invading Iraq, the Bush administration created a self-fulfilling prophecy: Iraq has now replaced Afghanistan as a magnet, a training ground and an operational base for jihadists, with plenty of American targets to shoot at.'

Richard Perle

ARCH-WARMONGER AND PIVOTAL REPUBLICAN HAWK

'The military campaign and its political aftermath were both passionately debated within the Bush administration. It got the war right and the aftermath wrong We should have understood that we needed Iraqi partners.'

Andrew Sullivan

PROMINENT COMMENTATOR AND INFLUENTIAL BLOGGER

'The world has learnt a tough lesson, and it has been a lot tougher for those tens of thousands of dead, innocent Iraqis ... than for a few humiliated pundits. The correct response is not more spin but a sense of shame and sorrow.'

George Will

RIGHT-WING COLUMNIST ON 'THE WASHINGTON POST' AND TV PUNDIT

'Almost three years after the invasion, it is still not certain whether, or in what sense, Iraq is a nation. And after two elections and a referendum on the constitution, Iraq barely has a government.'

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americ...ticle350092.ece

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030906K.shtml

He, He, He... Bush can't think for himself can he? His ignorance is shrill. I told you so.

[Captain Liger 0]

Boy, you just keeeeeeeeeeep on reachin', don't you? You don't know when to stop.

No, the President isn't listening and for good reason. We're WINNING.

I don't care if they are conservative, liberal, middle of the road, or too lazy to take a stance; one thing they all have in common (and I lump you in with them) is that they know not what they speak of. It's easy for them (and you) to drone over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and OVER again that the war in Iraq was unjustified and that progress isn't being made. How the hell would they (and you) know? They haven't spent any time on the ground patrolling the streets, interacting with the populace, rebuilding schools, sewage treatment facilities, electric plants, etc. And you sure as hell haven't either.

So Plan A (find WMD) didn't pan out. Big friggin' deal. So guess what? Plan B kicked into effect: KILL TERRORISTS. Rebuilding Iraq is a by-product. We're killing terrorists by the hundreds every day. Terrorists that would be attacking you and your family here. You should appreciate that, but, sadly, you don't. And you refuse to comprehend it. Your intolerable hatred of President Bush (YES, I said President Bush, that's how you are to address and refer to him, NOT Bushco, Bushy, or simply Bush) clouds every square inch of your judgement and thought process.

I almost hope you get your way, that ALL the troops come home from the Middle East. I really hope so. That way, the battle between us and the terrorists can be fought right here, right here in the good 'ol US of A. Right in your backyard. That way, you and LegalEagle can get your chance to stock up on ammo from Wal-Mart and use those high powered rifles of yours for something other than a mantle piece. That way, as a loved one of yours is driving to work, school, the doctor's office, etc, they can be mutliated by an IED or perhaps an RPG or whatever other weapon a terrorist can fashion using their crafty imagination. Don't think they can? Fertilizer does more than help crops grow. Just ask Timothy McVeigh. Oh wait, you can't, we executed him. I'm sure you weren't in favor of that either.

Like I said, I almost hope you get your way. ALMOST. But I love my family too much to really mean it. I'd much rather get killed 6,000 miles from home protecting my family than to risk them actually witnessing my death protecting them in Alabama from what we thought was a cashier at our friendly neighborhood Texaco. I don't suppose it would matter though, the troops coming home. Even if they did you'd probably just start ranting that President Bush isn't doing enough to curb terrorism or protect your sorry ass.

If anyone's ignorance should opened up for debate, it should be yours. Not the President's.

I expect more patriotism out of someone who USED to proudly advertise their service as a United States Army Combat Medic.

[quietfan 233]

So Plan A (find WMD) didn't pan out. Big friggin' deal. So guess what? Plan B kicked into effect:  KILL TERRORISTS. Rebuilding Iraq is a by-product. We're killing terrorists by the hundreds every day. Terrorists that would be attacking you and your family here. You should appreciate that, but, sadly, you don't. And you refuse to comprehend it. Your intolerable hatred of President Bush (YES, I said President Bush, that's how you are to address and refer to him, NOT Bushco, Bushy, or simply Bush) clouds every square inch of your judgement and thought process.

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I've never heard anyone in the Administration say the reason for being in Iraq is to simply to kill terrorists. If that is the current goal, then I'd call it Plan D, however. We were sold the war based on two reasons: Plan A: Eliminate Saddam's supposed dangerous arsenal of WMD and Plan B: Eliminate Saddam's supposed active support of Al Qaida. After the invasion, when those reasons didn't pan out, the Administration started emphasizing Plan C--Save the Iraqi people from the atrocities of Hussein's regime. So if our motivation now is simply "to kill terrorists", that's the fourth explanation for the war I've heard. And while I won't deny that perhaps a few of the insurgents/terorists in Iraq might have planned attacks on the US homeland, I also think most of oppostion forces in Iraq never gave a thought of coming to the US; they're only killing Americans because Americans are there now.

Besides, if all we wanted to do was kill terrorists, there were, and still are, plenty of them in Afghanistan to deal with without going into Iraq. I suspect our Iraq campaign has recruited/created more would-be terrorists than it has killed.

As far as what to call the President: As long as all major news networks (including conservatives' favorite, Fox) have no problem occasionally with refering to him as simply "Bush" without his office title; and as long as the President is paid by, is elected by, and works for me; I have no problem with calling him simply "Bush".