the talking dog

The New York Times is reporting that the greatest threat to American troops in Iraq is not Al Qaeda, not Saddam loyalists, but, wait for it...
ordinary Iraqis. Apparently, ordinary Iraqis are starting to get pissed at their perception of a never ending occupation, and the rather considerate "fly-paper strategy" of inviting all the terrorists in the world onto one convenient battlefield that just happens to be their home. They're starting to take out they're being pissed with pot shots at American soldiers-- who are also delighted that this is all working out this way.

I'll start by saying that I admire George W. Bush's resolve here. Its hard to picture a Democrat at this stage who would just not fold and start a massive pullout, the consequences to the Iraqis be damned. Maybe a resolute Al Gore or Wesley Clark wouldn't do that, but certainly by this point, even they would have had a major re-thinking of the whole thing by this point. Still, I'd admire Bush's resolve here more if it seemed to be part of a coherent plan that made sense, and reflected even the most basic modicum of honesty ("based on our intelligence, Saddam presented an imminent threat, and we would make the
same decision again rather than risk the United States and its interests") instead of verbal legardemain (its WMDs-- not its to liberate Iraq-- no, its to draw in terrorists).

The fact is, six months after the war started (and five months after the fall of Baghdad), Iraq does not seem to be well-secured; bandits and thugs abound; buildings and American soldiers are routinely blown up; oil pipelines continue to be routinely sabotaged; the Iraqi people suffer privations of a dead economy with little reason to be optimistic; our puppet provisional government does not seem to be getting much done.

While, again, I admire the President for just admitting we will need lots more money ($87 billion is, of course, far less than will ultimately be needed); I would like to see, again, some modicum of honesty here. We also need more troops; the rest of the world will contribute only marginally here-- for a variety of not good reasons, Iraq is now our baby, and we will have to pay for this with American blood and treasure.

Let me stop screwing around, then, and get to the point. What we can use right now is more Ronald Reagan, and less Ronald McDonald. We need more of the Great Communicator-- love him or hate him, my feeling was that Reagan's principal asset was not merely his delivery, but the fact that is it was heartfelt (not to mention, he had great speech writers). In short, Reagan was a statesman. George W. Bush seems less a statesman than a pitch-man. Policies are not so much enumerated as they are "branded"; "Operation Iraqi Freedom" was only a "mission statement" as an afterthought-- it was simply a brand to sell the war. And so is just about everything else out of Bush's mouth. Tax holidays that will benefit a very few, very wealthy people are called "middle-class tax cuts"; money diverted from other aid programs becomes "the African AIDS initiative". And a war against Iraq to protect the United States from a very specific threat that has proven totally illusory has now become something else entirely.

Again, more Ronald Reagan, less Ronald McDonald. Please.

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Comments

I bet you never expected to be wishing for the good old Reagan days, huh?

I know I sure didn't.

Posted by Al at September 17, 2003 06:51 PM

Just another demonstration of the power of the Bushes to put you in positions never heretofore imagined. That said, love him or hate him, Reagan was a giant-- and unlike the Bushes, he had a vision for governance that wasn't power for its own sake (or for the sake of graft).

Posted by the talking dog at September 17, 2003 08:10 PM

True dat -- and RR's political vision was remarkable indeed.

In any case -- your "admiration with reservations" sums up my feelings about the current Administration perfectly. As much as I really *want* to support Bush for another four-year term, I just can't bring myself to do it -- and now, after nine months of hoping Wes Clark would join the primary, I don't have to.

A Clark-Edwards ticket, huh? I'd jump the fence to vote for that!

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the talking dog

September 17, 2003, Do You Want to Know A Secret?

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