The Smug Asshole and his Secret Plan
Read the speech.
Actually, I think the speech is pretty good. It made me hopeful that we can do some good in Iraq. However, I think it's worth pointing out that it was by no means a plan, it was more of a broad outline of how things ought to proceed. We don't need platitudes. We need action and results. The Times' op-ed rightly criticizes this as the perfect speech for 14 months ago, when the task of rebuilding Iraq was at hand. Only now, after a year of screwing it up, do we need the President to outline his plan? Come on. This is the ultimate failure of the Bush administration. They have no plan for rebuilding Iraq. None. Unfathomable, but true.
Finally, Saletan has a fantastic piece on Slate that identifies TSA's fundamental flaw. He's so focused on what God is doing, that he simply cannot imagine his actions have any consequences. If it occured, it must be God's Will. Bush's decisions have nothing to do with it. Why, then, do we need a President at all?
As Saletan says:
Bush's ignorance of his part in the tragedy infects everything he says. "The swift removal of Saddam Hussein's regime last spring had an unintended effect," he observed tonight. "Instead of being killed or captured on the battlefield, some of Saddam's elite guards shed their uniforms and melted into the civilian population. [They] have reorganized, rearmed and adopted sophisticated terrorist tactics." Note the passive construction. The mistake isn't that Bush failed to prepare for guerrilla tactics commonly adopted against occupiers. It isn't even a mistake; it's an "unintended effect." The cause of that effect is Saddam's "swift removal," not Bush or anyone in his administration who engineered the removal.
He makes a great point and doesn't even mention that we made a specific decision to disband the Iraqi military.
Anyway, John Kerry is a douchebag, but I'm voting for him anyway.
Actually, I think the speech is pretty good. It made me hopeful that we can do some good in Iraq. However, I think it's worth pointing out that it was by no means a plan, it was more of a broad outline of how things ought to proceed. We don't need platitudes. We need action and results. The Times' op-ed rightly criticizes this as the perfect speech for 14 months ago, when the task of rebuilding Iraq was at hand. Only now, after a year of screwing it up, do we need the President to outline his plan? Come on. This is the ultimate failure of the Bush administration. They have no plan for rebuilding Iraq. None. Unfathomable, but true.
Finally, Saletan has a fantastic piece on Slate that identifies TSA's fundamental flaw. He's so focused on what God is doing, that he simply cannot imagine his actions have any consequences. If it occured, it must be God's Will. Bush's decisions have nothing to do with it. Why, then, do we need a President at all?
As Saletan says:
Bush's ignorance of his part in the tragedy infects everything he says. "The swift removal of Saddam Hussein's regime last spring had an unintended effect," he observed tonight. "Instead of being killed or captured on the battlefield, some of Saddam's elite guards shed their uniforms and melted into the civilian population. [They] have reorganized, rearmed and adopted sophisticated terrorist tactics." Note the passive construction. The mistake isn't that Bush failed to prepare for guerrilla tactics commonly adopted against occupiers. It isn't even a mistake; it's an "unintended effect." The cause of that effect is Saddam's "swift removal," not Bush or anyone in his administration who engineered the removal.
He makes a great point and doesn't even mention that we made a specific decision to disband the Iraqi military.
Anyway, John Kerry is a douchebag, but I'm voting for him anyway.