George Bush is a pathetic fantasist as well as a dangerous and incompetent leader. Were he but younger and unemployed, he says, he'd work in Afghanistan to help the "young democracy" there succeed. Why? Because it would be "fantastic" and "romantic." Whatever is happening in Afghanistan, it is by most accounts not succeeding and it's certainly not romantic. Personally, I've never heard of an evolving democracy that depended on the heroin trade for 33% of its Gross National Product. And, uh, George? When you were young and unemployed you had a chance to serve in romantic Vietnam and passed on it...
Fred Kaplan explains that Bush's delusions so convolute the definition of "success" in Iraq that nobody knows what it means. As naive and far-fetched as it seems, the original idea was to oust Saddam Hussein and install a democracy in Iraq that would quickly inspire the other Arab nations in the Middle East to do the same. Bush himself lowered expectations two years later, when he said that victory in Iraq would come "when the terrorists and Saddamists can no longer threaten Iraq's democracy, when the Iraqi security forces can provide for the safety of their own citizens, and when Iraq is not a safe-haven for terrorists to plot new attacks on our nation."
(Note the implication of this last assertion: Not only was there no safe haven in Iraq for terrorists prior to 2003, by his own words Bush created one when he invaded. Now to achieve peace, American soldiers must die to undo Bush's own monstrosity.)
Today, all of a sudden, a victory will lay "the foundations for peace for generations to come," a goal that -- if anything -- is more distant than before the war. It's certainly nothing that Barack Obama or even John McCain will sign up for. And, as Kaplan points out, we are no closer to "victory" as defined by the Administration than we were in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, or 2007. No wonder John McCain thought that it might take a hundred years...
(Note the implication of this last assertion: Not only was there no safe haven in Iraq for terrorists prior to 2003, by his own words Bush created one when he invaded. Now to achieve peace, American soldiers must die to undo Bush's own monstrosity.)
Today, all of a sudden, a victory will lay "the foundations for peace for generations to come," a goal that -- if anything -- is more distant than before the war. It's certainly nothing that Barack Obama or even John McCain will sign up for. And, as Kaplan points out, we are no closer to "victory" as defined by the Administration than we were in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, or 2007. No wonder John McCain thought that it might take a hundred years...
While perusing the internet to see if anyone besides BeauSoleil had recorded the Cajun waltz "Plus Tu Tourne," I stumbled across and downloaded a real beauty: Adieu, False Heart, by Linda Ronstadt and the Cajun traditional singer Ann Savoy (2006). Absolutely gorgeous, and I can't describe it any better than MusiciansNews.com does here...I wonder if Gnarls Barkley's new CD (The Odd Couple) is as good as Joan Ackerman of the Boston Globe says it is. I'll let you know tomorrow...
Daniel Gross reminds us that FDR's New Deal still works for us despite the right's fervent efforts to dismantle it. In fact, without it, the mortgage would even worse.
Daniel Gross reminds us that FDR's New Deal still works for us despite the right's fervent efforts to dismantle it. In fact, without it, the mortgage would even worse.
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2 comments:
I just don't know what to think about any of it. Knowing the truth of what is happening over there feels like living in an alternate reality.
I know what you mean -- it's surreal. Wait until you see a couple of the sites I link to today -- talk about alternate realities...
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